Believe
by metamo
Summary: Belief is a powerful thing...When Faith gives up on everything she truly believes herself 'done for'. Neverland has other ideas and she finds herslef in a very dark place indeed, this is not your parents fairy tale! HookXOC rating subject to change
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Peter Pan or any character from the book or film**

**AN: This is just the prologue, it also acts as a simple explanation to the whole premise of which I based this fiction, please read and review, it means a lot to me! and enjoy!**

Everyone knows the story of Peter Pan and how he took Wendy Darling and her brothers to Neverland one night, or at least they think they know the story. You see, as is the case with many stories passed down throughout the years, it has not remained the same, the story as we know it does have some truths, yet it was cut short and changed to give us a more pleasant ending. We were lead to believe that Peter returned to the Darling household many times to visit Wendy and her daughters and her daughter daughters, this was nothing more than fanciful stories told to feed the belief of the children. After Wendy and her brothers returned safely to their home, Peter returned but never did he show his face. In fact once Wendy had grown up, he didn't return to London at all.

We know that Neverland was a place of magic, yet we were never told the extent of it's mystery. Picture this, if you will; A place free from the laws of our world, where time passes very differently. A place that can be influenced by the will of others, it's magic is such a mystery that your very own dreams can traverse the plains of dreams into that of the reality in Neverland and influence the happenings there. But, we know dreams can affect Neverland already, we all know how Peter had used that power to revive Tinkerbell from her death.

Now, I hear you wondering how Pan could use Neverland's magic so easily. It's quite simple really, Pan is the very essence of the magic surrounding Neverland, He has remained a child and always will, and children always understand the workings of magic and fantasy far better than any adult. Pan may have been arrogant and insolent, but he was still quite extraordinary, no one could deny that. Pan's child like mind had enabled him to learn the workings of Neverland and therefore he was able to manipulate it.

I mentioned previously that Time works differently in Neverland, it is quite fascinating really, hardly any time at all can pass there whilst in our world hundreds of years can go by, or at least it can seem that way to those travelling there; They may leave their life behind on this world and arrive in Neverland at a time they think to be impossible, this happens because of the magic of Neverland, it seems to know where the person needs to be the most and directs them there, be it in the past, present or future of their own time line, a rather complicated idea I must admit, but fascinating all the same.


	2. Old, Alone, Almost done for

**AN:so onto the good stuff, I know it's a bit slow, but I promise that it will get better! again I beg you to read and review (: and enjoy!**

Our story really starts where we know part of the story of Peter Pan to end. The fearsome pirate captain, James Hook, bravely and valiantly jumps to his certain death, his last uttered words are something that we do not know for sure, some people believe them to be

"Bad form"

whilst others believe them to be

"Old, alone, done for"

Personally, this author believes that the latter is more fitting to the character of this fearsome pirate captain, and I am sure there are many a person who will disagree with me.

He thew himself into the mouth of the crocodile that had haunted him for years. Thus perished James Hook- supposedly, of course a children's story would never do to have it's antagonist survive! However this is not a children's story. Captain James Hook fully expected that to have been the end of him, so he was most surprised to find himself stuck between the walls of the beast's gullet, of course by then, Peter had forgotten all about him and had started to sail the Jolly Roger over many moons and stars so that Wendy and her brothers could return home safely. The beast had fought to dislodge it's meal from it's gullet, to no avail, it writhed around, choking until it finally made it's way to the shore. It was then that Captain James Hook decided to act, he had called himself 'Hook' for a reason after all. He jammed his hook into the wall of the beast's gullet and ripped it open, he tore inch by inch at it's muscles and flesh for quite some time until he had finally made a long, large cut through the outer layer of the beast's throat, as he did the beast let out a final cry of defeat and Hook pulled the slit open so that he could step out.

His clothes and person being filth encrusted and covered in blood, James Hook went in search of one of his make shift camps that he had stationed around Neverland, he was close to one, which was exceedingly lucky, it was no more than a mile and a half from his current location. He was tired from his battle with Pan and from forcing his way from the crocodile, having a camp so close was a brilliant thing. He had ensured that everyone of his secret camps were stocked with necessities such as food, water (enough for drinking and washing), things for making a fire and clothes. His first course of action was to remove the clothing he had been wearing at the time, second to start a fire. The third thing he did was wash himself, he had not got off injury free and knew to prevent infection he must be clean, he first washed his body then soaked all the dried blood and entrails from his hair. Once he had put on his fresh clothes he ate, there was only a small loaf of bread in this camp, but it would do him for the night.

Knowing how time works so much differently in Neverland helps us understand the situation our protagonist is about to be put in. At a glance first thing in the morning you'll see that she is completely unremarkable, you could say that she was exceedingly average in most areas of life. A young lady thrown into the adulthood that for the most part, she does not want. Being a modern girl of our own day and age she is not yet married or engaged, and is fully expected to be out working. She wakes up late in the morning, regrettably having to leave her dream land behind, she laces herself into a corset, she is never seen without one on as she hates for anyone to see the imperfection of her real body beneath it.

Her name was Faith, quite fitting for her really as she had never lost faith in magic even when all of her peers had, unlike them, she was never quite ready to take on all the responsibility of growing up. Her parents were ashamed of her and she was reminded of it every day, she just never felt good enough for them, no matter what she did. She quite often felt like a paradox, even with her refusal to grow up there were many a time where she felt old, many of her opinions were quite mature even and she felt that there was a definite barrier between her and those that she supposed were called her friends, to her it seemed like an uncomfortable age gap. Yes, quite often she felt old.

She supposed that there were people that she should call 'friends' yet, she rarely felt a connection to them, in her mind they seemed to be the people she tolerated more than others, and although they tried, they never could quite understand her. Faith often wished that she could connect with people easier, it was something that haunted her. She was covered by a cloud of undeniable lonliness.

She had never really been able to connect with people in a positive manner, she was too weird for them, an oddity to be exploited and laughed at by most. A failure to her family. The outcast of her 'friends' she often felt utterly hopeless and that is what lead her to the pier. She had always felt calm when she was close to the sea and had gone to spend some alone time there to contemplate things. This pier in particular was very quiet, no arcades, no café, no gift shop, it was just the barrier at the top end (as you had to pay to walk down there) then some benches at the other where you could sit for hours looking at the view. It was a windy day, she stood at the end of the pier looking out into the water, thinking how hopeless she was, remembering the harsh, cruel words of her parents telling her how she was never going to amount to anything at all. She thought of how there was a barrier between her and everyone else and the almost unbearable loneliness that she always felt. The pier was tall and she couldn't see all the way down, that was where she was going, right to the bottom. Faith had barely realised what she was doing until she found herself standing on the wooden railings around the edge of the pier, without a second thought she found herself falling backwards into the sea. She was done for.

When one jumps from a pier, the last thing one expects is to land on something hard, yet, that's what she felt, she had landed onto something hard. Or at least she thought she had, she had not opened her eyes to see, lest it destroyed her fantasy of having escaped her loneliness for good. Faith drifted off, surprisingly unseen by anyone, she had fell into a deep sleep and was dreaming happily. She awoke because of a strange sensation crawling up her legs, she looked down to see she had been laying on a rather large piece of wood and her legs were now hanging from the edge, her jeans were soaked through, so she removed them revealing a pair of unglamorous girl boxers.

Faith turned around and in the distance saw some land, she seemed to be floating in that direction. She had no idea of how long she had been afloat for she had slept through most of it, all she knew was that she was very thirsty and very hot. She wandered if she'd even make it to the land in the distance, it wasn't like she cared if she did or not. She thought she had been afloat for maybe an hour more when she started to feel faint, she knew that sea water would not ease her thirst so ignored the idea of drinking some, a further half hour passed and she had not yet reached land, she grew ever more faint and eventually passed out.


	3. It sends a girl!

**AN: Huzzah! another chapter done! Please read and review! enjoyyy**

Unknown to her, Faith had washed up on a very special beach on a very special island. When she finally came round, Faith knew that she wasn't dead, she didn't know how she knew, she just knew. She was quite exhausted, yet, managed to puller herself up from the ground, all she could think of was finding food and water. Food and water were much closer than she could have ever expected, as she had washed up not a mile from Neverland's port.

The port of Neverland was never really part of the fairy tale that we all know, it was a dark place, full of broken dreams and lost souls. It is rare that adults find their way to Neverland, the ones that do, arrive there because they have lost all hope. The small port town was shrouded in darkness constantly, Faith walked into the port uneasily, occasionally losing her footing over the uneven cobbles.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing all by her own out here?" An old woman asked her from the doorway of a particularly seedy looking building.

"Washed up on the beach, I need water...food" Faith managed to say

The old lady saw an opportunity and rushed over and took hold of Faith's arm

"Don't you worry dear, granny will make sure you're okay" The old lady said as she lead faith into the building.

She lead Faith up a flight of stairs and into a bedroom at the back of the building

"You just wait here, let your granny take care of everything" The old lady said before leaving the room.

Faith sat on the bed, it was a small, dirty bed in a small dirty room, a small grime covered window looked over the bed.

Neverland port wasn't a place you'd really want to go at all, it's entire existence relied on pirates, for if Pirates didn't bring food and goods into port, the people living there would not eat. Neverland port was not a happy place, anyone unlucky enough to find themselves there will know just how unpleasant it is, drink, drugs and prostitution being it's main revenue it's easy to imagine how horrible it is to live there.

Faith examined the room she was in, rather unimpressed with it. The old lady eventually came back in with a glass of water and some bread and jam, Faith ate and drank greedily whilst the old lady watched.

"Thank you, miss" Faith said, once she had finished her small meal

"Your welcome, but please, call me Granny, everyone does"

"Thank you Granny" Faith corrected herself

Granny smiled

"Now, you are new here, and you must know, here we work for everything, nothing comes for free here...and we haven't had a blonde in such a long time" She said

"Granny, what do you mean?" Faith asked

"It means, as long as you stay here, I will continue to feed you, but you will work for me as a prostitute"

Faith didn't want to be a prostitute, far from it, she had not thrown herself from that pier so that she could sell her body from this dingy little room.

"What if I refuse?" Faith asked

"Then you must leave here, find your own food and shelter, good luck with that"

Faith nodded and forced herself from the bed, she stormed out of the building and rushed through the small port town into the jungle like terrain beyond.

At that same moment, Captain James Hook was returning to his makeshift camp for the 5th night in a row, he had been to the port to collect food, but like most of his visits, he refused to stay overnight in 'that horrid place' as he affectionately called it, He re lit his fire and sat down to eat.

Faith had run into a small clearing and stood, looking around, in the near distance she saw smoke. Faith being who she was didn't think of who could have possibly created the smoke, she ran in the direction of the smoke and stopped when she saw another small clearing. She crept closer out of curiosity, making sure that the man sitting next to the fire would not see her, from her final hiding spot, Faith could see the man perfectly. Her attention was first brought to the hook he had instead of a right hand, she held back a gasp, recognising at once, the fearsome figure whom she had been fascinated with since hearing his story when she was a child. Faith waited until she was sure he was sleeping to make her move, she carefully made her way closer to him and picked up a pair of his breeches and pulled them on, they were long on her, so Faith rolled up the ends. Faith looked around carefully and picked up a loaf of bread, unaware she had disturbed the light sleeper that was Captain James Hook.

Faith had turned around to leave the clearing, however she found herself looking into the neck (as he was rather tall and she, not so tall) of a pirate.

"You dare to steal from me!" He growled, pushing his hook against her cheek

Faith was scared, she dropped the bread that she was carrying. The pirate laughed, pushing Faith against a tree.

"Now, what am I to do with a thief?" He said, stroking one of her breasts

"You're definitely not one of Pan's lot, simply maiming you won't make you learn" he mused

Faith gulped, knowing the brutality of the man standing before her, she was terrified.

Captain James Hook was a terrifying, cruel, man. Most of the time. He had killed people for far less than trying to steal from him, he had raped countless numbers of women too. He would tear our someone's eyes for just looking at him the wrong way, He could see the fear coming from the girl, and he enjoyed it, it excited him, it was something that he could use.

He used his left hand to remove the breeches that she had been wearing and felt her fear pulse throughout her body, he pulled down the underpants that she was wearing and started to stroke her inner thigh. Faith was terrified, yet she could not bring herself to resist him, she wasn't even sure if she wanted to resist him. James Hook was just about to move into her most intimate area when he saw it, at the top of her right thigh was the scar, shaped like a cross. he retracted his hand quickly and stroked the scar. This was no ordinary scar, it was the mark of one who would be part of his pirate crew. There was never a shortage of Pirates at Neverland, if a crew was reduced to a pitiful number, Neverland brought new Pirates to the island.

"I need a crew and it sends me a girl!" He said, almost angrily "Pull your underwear up, we're going to port"

Faith did as he had ordered and stood as he tied her wrists up uncomfortably with rope.


	4. Numbered days and punishment

**AN: please read and review and all that blah, thanks everyone that has read this.**

Faith was dragged, most uncomfortably and forcefully through the trees, she was exhausted already, and felt as if this journey would finish her, Of course she was wrong, if it was to finish her there would be no story here at all.

"Why are we going to port?" Faith asked

"To see a friend" The pirate growled

"Do I have to be tied up?"

"Yes!"

"I'm not going to run away!"

"How can I be sure I can trust you?" He snapped

With that they were silent, except from the occasional grunt from Hook when he had to give Faith's ropes a tug when she faltered in her pace.

The port town seemed darker and more vile than Faith had remembered, upon seeing the building where she met 'Granny' Faith froze up, thinking that Hook had bought her to port to sell her into prostitution.

"Get a move on, girl!" He said with a violent tug on her ropes.

Faith was dragged to a small shack at the end of the alley, Hook forced the door open and dragged faith into the small room, it was obvious that the person inhabiting the shack lived in that one room.

"Grace!" He growled

"Hello James" A woman said

Grace turned out to be a voluptuous Caribbean woman

"What can I do you for?" She purred into the ear of James Hook

"The girl" He growled "She's marked"

Grace walked up to Faith and looked straight into her eyes

"The scar?" She asked

"Her right thigh" Hook said impatiently

Grace knelt down to see the scar and in one swift motion had plunged her nail into the centre of it and collected the blood in a vial already containing a clear liquid. Grace held the vial up to a candle and watched as the red-tinged liquid turned to icy blue.

"This is no ordinary mark" Grace said eventually "Do you remember what I told you all those years ago, when you first came to this forsaken island?"

Hook nodded

"Neverland needs a balance of light and dark, Hook and Pan, neither of them can truly perish lest it upset the equilibrium of this isle. I fear, your days are numbered, James Hook"

James Hook was a brave man, but upon hearing the last of what Grace had to say, fear struck his heart, he did not want to die. He grabbed Faith's ropes forcefully and dragged her from the shack and into yet another wooden building. A filthy tavern, run by a just as filthy looking land lady.

"Captain" She said "it has been so long since we've had your custom"

"I need a room" He said in his commanding growl.

"Oh yes, very well, right this way Captain" The landlady said leading him and therefore Faith also, up an unsteady flight of stairs and into what Faith assumed to be the room kept for the Captain as compared to the rest of the building it was relatively clean.

"That is all" Hook said, dismissing the land lady with a wave of his hand

"Get on the bed!" He ordered Faith, hesitantly, she obliged.

Hook walked towards her purposefully and grabbed her ropes, he tied her to the railed headboard of the bed with a grunt, before removing his coat and shirt and sprawling himself over the bed.

Had faith not been so exhausted, she wouldn't have slept at all that night, luckily she was able to fall into a dreamless, undisturbed sleep easily. Hook awoke early in the morning, he turned to look at the girl beside him, she was half laying, half sitting in an uncomfortable position with her wrists bound somewhere just above her ear. He smiled sadistically, almost forgetting what Grace had said the previous night, He ran his hook down the girls thigh. Faith awoke uneasily, pulling at her restraints.

"Pulling at them will only make the pain worse" Hook said to her

"don't see why you bothered to tie me up in the first place" Faith grumbled

"So that you didn't run away, my dear" Hook said

"I said I wouldn't run"

"Aye, you did, but why should I believe that?"

"Where the hell would I go?!" She shouted

"I'd have thought a girl such as yourself would want to find her way home"

"Well then, Captain, you are very much mistaken, There is nothing there that entices me to return"

"Family?" Hook asked

"My Family wishes I were someone other than myself, according to them I am nothing and never will be anyone of any importance"

"Friends"

"I have none, not really. I despise them, they're like children!"

"I see" Hook said

"I was meant to die when the tide bought me to this damned place! I was to die alone and unloved..."

"Just like me" Hook interjected

"It seems" He said "That fate saved us both"

"So you believe me now? I won't run" Faith asked him

"I believe you?"

"Will you cut the ropes then?"

"No, you're forgetting, you tried to steal from me and must be punished"

Faith was sure that she knew what was coming, her pulse quickened with fear and excitement flashed behind Hook's cold, blue eyes. Hook pulled down her girl boxers and pushed his hand between her legs, smiling darkly as he pushed his fingers inside of her. Faith hated how she enjoyed his touch, Hook raised an eyebrow at her.

"Your body betrays you" He sneered "Isn't it just wonderful"

Faith whimpered in fear.

"You know what comes next, my dear" He teased as he removed his trousers

"No!" Faith gasped

"Oh yes! This will make sure you never try to steal from me again" He sneered as he positioned himself over Faith

He entered her forcefully, giving her no time to adjust, he thrust into her.

"In time, you'll learn that I own you" He spat

He thrust into her once more, deeper than before, Faith gasped in pain and he enjoyed it, thrusting ever harder with each gasp and look that showed her pain and fear.

"Say my name! He ordered

Faith shook her head

he slapped her across the face

"You will do as your master says! Say my name!"

"James" She gasped as he thrust into her painfully

"Now, that is the only noise to leave your lips until this is over" He said sadistically

with every gasp of pain came his name, and he relished in it, eventually he let out one long moan and it was over.

"see, it wasn't so bad" He crooned over her, stroking her cheek with his hook.


	5. Your ship awaits

**AN:okay, so, I made a few minor edits to this chapter, there were a few parts I wasn't entirely happy with and didn't think flowed well and I added a small, very small thing in so that this chapter had more of a point regarding to the whole story, please leave reviews and enjoyyy!**

"Now, will you cut the ropes?" Faith said in a small, choked whisper

James Hook considered her question for only a few seconds, stroking his hook whilst in thought, he was quite certain that the girl had been telling him the truth when she said that she would not run away, yet he still wanted her tied up.

"No" He said bluntly

"So you fucking me means I'll have somewhere to run away to?" She spat

Hook tutted

"Language miss.."

It was then that Hook realised he had forgotten to ask the girls name

"What is it that I should call you?" He asked in unsure tones

"Faith" She replied "Just Faith"

"Well then just Faith...you'd do better to watch your language around me."

Faith glared at him, the man infuriated her, almost everything about the man infuriated her, and understandably so; James Hook was not a pleasant man to be around, having not felt any good emotion in many years had taken it's toll on him, his temperament was volatile at the best of times, and yet Faith could not help but be entranced by him, his blue eyes drawing her in. Faith could not deny that he was very handsome, if a little rugged and unkempt from living in his small camp for the past few days.

There was a knock at the door.

"Want me to draw you a bath, captain?" A voice called

"Yes" He barked back at her.

The lady pushed her way through the door, and into the bathroom , swiftly followed by some maids carrying jugs of hot water.

"Your bath's ready captain" the lady called eventually

"Good, you may leave now" he growled back at her

once they had left, Hook cut where the ropes were attaching faith to the bed and dragged her to the bath.

"Get undressed and get in" He ordered her

Faith nervously ran her hand down her corset and shook her head

"What do you take me for, girl? A fool? I know how a corset works, you're not going to look the same once it is off, I do not care! Do as I say and I will remove the ropes"

Faith cautiously got undressed and stepped into the tub

"Good girl" he crooned "Give me your wrists"

Faith extended her arms towards him and true to his words he used his hook to cut the ropes binding her wrists, and let them fall to the floor.

"You're going to have to help me get this off" He said waving his hook in the air, faith nodded and slowly started to undo all of the buckles and clasps holding his hook onto his arm, then that too fell to the floor. Hook unbuttoned his trousers and stepped into the tub, sitting opposite faith.

"Do my back" Hook growled as he turned around

Faith grabbed the bar of soap and rubbed it across his back, lathering it up and then she began to scrub the dirt away whilst Hook washed the front of his body.

"Turn around" He said assertively

Faith obeyed him and brought her knees to her chest as the pirate began to wash her back. Once he was done, Hook got out of the tub and indicated that Faith do the same, He handed her a towel and watched as she dried herself and then started to get dressed once more, she had clasped her corset shut and had begun to tighten the laces.

"Let me do it" Hook said impatiently

he grabbed the laces in his hand and secured the corset quickly and accurately, it was something that he had done many a time in the past and for a man with only one hand he was quite skilful at it too. He thrust his hook into Faiths hands, wanting her to put it on him. Faith slowly slid it onto his arm and over his shoulder before doing up all of the buckles. He then went through to the main room to get dressed once more.

The curtains were open and the window overlooked the sea, a large black spot was on the horizon. Hook had just pulled on his waistcoat when he saw it, he knew immediately what it was. He grabbed Faith forcefully and dragged her through the small port town back to the small shack in the alleyway.

"Back again so soon, James?" Grace cooed over him

"My ship is on the horizon, it shall be in port in a matter of hours, my crew will need to know that the girl is mine" He said calmly "I will go to get her some clothes, see to it that none of my crew will seek to covet her"

Grace tutted as he left the shack.

"Now dear, this will hurt,oh yes, it will hurt, but what James wants, James gets, lay down there on the floor, I will go as quick as I can" Grace said in reassuring tones

Faith hesitantly laid herself on the floor, she listened to grace potter about and search through some cupboards and then she sat beside faith. That was when the pain started an intense stinging in her thigh and a constant tapping sound, Faith realised that she was being tattooed.

Grace worked quickly and by the time Hook had returned she had moved onto Faith's other thigh, the pain was becoming almost unbearable and Faith had started to shake, Grace stopped tapping the ink into her thigh.

"Why have you stopped?" Hook asked angrily

"She needs a break, James" Grace said "something to eat"

"No! You will finish this" Hook growled menacingly

"I'm sorry darling" Grace cooed and stroked Faith's hair before going back to tattooing her.

Faith made it through the pain, barely. Grace helped her stand up and she looked down at her tattooed legs.

"They're like the Samoan tattoos" She commented

"You are learned?" Hook said questioning her

"Yes, I went to school and to college" Faith said

"But you are just a girl!"

Faith glared at him.

Hook thrust a short dress and fresh corset into her hands

"Put this on" he growled

Faith nervously changed into the new clothes

"Turn around so that I can see you, girl!" Hook ordered

Faith slowly turned around, whilst he scrutinised her appearance.

"It's missing something" he mused then swiftly removed the dark navy sash from around his own waist

"Come here!" he ordered

Faith nervously took a few steps towards him and he tied the sash messily around her hips.

"That'll do" He growled.

Grace put her hand upon his shoulder

"Do not be so hard on her, James" Grace said

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"In time, you'll realise, just trust me for now"

"I put too much trust in you, Grace" He growled "after all it was you that had me convinced that I was going to die in the jaws of that damned crocodile!"

"James, your ship awaits you, it'd be wise for you to leave now, both of you" Grace finished.


	6. Reflections

**AN: finally an update! been having some horrid writers block D= Please leave reviews, it will make me very happy! enjoyyyy!**

James Hook had always trusted Grace, it had been her who had found him when he first found himself in Neverland. He no longer remembered how he got to Neverland nor why he had left his old life behind, all he remembered was one day waking up in Grace's shack. He had a scar too, just like Faith's, it was on his right forearm, Grace had been scared when she first laid eyes upon it, knowing the darkness that travelled with it. She explained to him the fine balance between good and evil in Neverland. As long as there was balance, James Hook could not die. Immortality had a dear price to pay, James Hook was to be alone and unloved- this is what filled him with darkness. Her last words to him on that first meeter were "Your ship awaits."

Hook had offered Faith an arm, she took hold of it lightly as he lead her to the docks, the stood watching as the Jolly roger came slowly to a halt, a ramp was pushed from the side of the ship, Hook wrapped an arm firmly around Faith's waist and lead her aboard the pirate ship. The pirate crew were busy, preparing to go into port, one by one they stopped in their tracks and stared in awe at the captain they assumed to be dead.

"Ships company!" Hook shouted

The pirate crew gathered around him in a semi-circle

"I am most disappointed with you, not one of you tried to find me" he tutted "days, I waited days! And not one of you came to find me!"

An older man stepped forward from the semi-circle

"But captain, you fell into the jaws of the crocodile.." The old man said

"Smee, I thought you of all people would have been loyal enough to know I would not be killed so easily"

Smee wrung his hands in embarrassment.

"Smee, I want you to fix up my quarters" Hook sighed

"What of the young lady here?" Smee asked

"She will be residing in my quarters with me" he replied, then turned his attention to the rest of the crew "Let it be known, if any of you lay a finger on her I will put my hook through you!" he finished an a menacing growl, he pulled Faith by her waist so that she was pressed against his side.

Slowly the ship snapped out of it's silence and the crew went back to their business, Hook lead Faith around the ship

"These waters, all of them, they're mine" Hook said waving his hand outwards

"They're beautiful" Faith mused

"Sometimes" He agreed "sometimes..."

Faith sighed, there wasn't anything as beautiful in her old life, Hook was leaning over the edge of the ship, looking into the horizon, he wondered when Pan would be back, another group of lost boys in toe, he feared that day, Grace had warned him that his days were numbered, and although he was a brave man, James Hook did not want to die. Faith too was leaning over the edge of the ship, she turned her head slightly, looking at the pirate captain standing beside her, his high cheek bones and strong facial features and the most striking features- forget me not blue, eyes. Faith didn't like to admit it, but, she found him very attractive, his eyes drew her in most of all, she could easily lose herself in them. She was not aware of it at the time, but a small smile had spread over her face.

James Hook was well aware that the girl was looking at him, he was used to people looking at him, they usually regarded him with fear in their hearts, their fear did not excite him as this girls did. At that moment in time, Faith was not afraid, but entranced; In Hook she saw not only beauty, but, she saw reflected in him almost everything that she had ever wished for, she saw herself reflected in those forget me not blue eyes also.

"You're staring at me" Hook stated

Faith lowered her gaze to the waters below, not wanting to make him angry, Hook had not been angered by her staring, but intrigued, he had wanted to know what was passing through her mind at the time- it seemed, however, that she would not tell him easily.

"Captain" called Smee "your quarters are ready"

Hook nodded, and Smee walked off. Hook then proceeded to take Faith by the waist and lead her across the ship to his quarters.

"You must be exhausted" He said "You should rest"

He lead her over to the bed

"Rest" He insisted "You will feel much better for it, I promise"

Faith eventually complied with his wishes and laid herself down on the bed, falling asleep qucikly.


	7. He's back

**AN: wow! This story has been giving me hell! it has taken me 2 days to write this chapter! Don't worry I know where this is going, I've known the ending all along! Also, for the main part I am going by the book for this, mostly although I have been picturing Hook as the way Jason Isaacs portrays him in the 2003 film! please leave a review, reviews make my day! enjoyyy!**

Hook watched the girl sleep with greedy eyes, thinking, he wondered how a girl so obviously not a child had found her way to Neverland. She groaned and turned over in her sleep. He watched her in amusement as she mumbled in her sleep. Faith hadn't always spoke in her sleep, it had started when she was 16, she could not rightly remember the cause of her sleep talking, as was the magic of Neverland- it makes you forget.

Smee had entered the cabin, he looked at Hook then to Faith

"She's a pretty one she is" Smee said "Granny would probably still proabably pay a good price for her, even with those tattoos"

"I do not intend to sell her" Hook said

"Then what do you intend for her"

"I do not rightly know" Hook mused, stroking his facial hair, not taking his eyes from Faith, who slept on, silently for many hours.

Night time doesn't come gradually in Neverland as it does in our world, one moment it's a bright sunny day and the next there is a glorious sunset and just moments later there is darkness, there was darkness when Faith awoke, her legs stung as she sat up. Hook was sitting at a table full of food

"Dinner" He said "Please, sit" He invited her to the chair to his right, he looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to move from the bed, ever the gentleman he stood from his own chair at the head of the table and walked to Faith, and offered her his arm, he lead her to the table and seated her at it

"Help yourself" Hook said

Faith was hesitant at moving any of the food onto her own plate

"One needs to eat in order to survive...even here in Neverland"

"But Peter Pan hardly ever eats, not really" Faith said

"You know of dear Peter Pan?" Hook asked, amused

"Oh! Almost everyone where I'm from has heard of him, and of you, of course! A story of Peter Pan is almost certain to have you in it"

"How intriguing" Hook said "You will tell me all about that, once you have eaten of course"

Faith was hungry and she had only just realised how hungry she was, her corset restricted how much she could eat, yet she managed to eat enough to satiate her hunger.

Hook waited patiently until he was sure that she had finished eating, he lead her over to a sofa in the far back of the room, the sofa sat between 2 book cases, filled with books, piles of books were stacked on the floor too, James Hook was an educated man that had many books in his lifetime, he had read the books upon his ship hundreds of times over. They were both sat at the sofa, Hook relaxed and slightly reclined, Faith sitting straight due to the restrictions of her corset.

"So, tell me how it is you know of Pan" Hook said

"Well, it's in a book you see" Faith started "once Wendy returned from Neverland and had grown up she recounted her story to a Mr. J.M Barrie who wrote it down and got it published, of course, this was all hundreds of years ago, but the story remained popular and in print, it's been on stage and everything"

"Preposterous!" Hook exclaimed "The Wendy girl left but days ago"

"Time is so very different here than it is where I am from" Faith said

Hook thought for a second

"Tell me more of this story" He urged

"Okay, it starts with the Darling family and Peter taking the children through the window to Neverland, they have wild adventures, mostly trying to fight you, most people when they read the book despise you, some people don't, mostly the older children and grown ups are the ones that like you. The story says how you tried to poison Pan and how the fairy Tinkerbell saved him it tells us how Pan used the dreams of children to revive her" Faith paused for breath, Hook looked at her, waiting for her to continue "Of course, after that Pan comes looking for you, where you have Wendy and the lost boys, then the fight, where you bravely face your own death 'Thus perished James Hook' that is all that is said on the matter, Pan returned Wendy and her brothers home, he returned to her every year-almost, he had a long absence and when he returned afterwards she had grown up, so he took her daughter here instead"

Hook let an amused smile creep upon his face

"How interesting! And there are people where you are from that like me?"

"Oh yes, most definitely!" Faith said

"Do they admire me?"

"Well I'm sure some of them do"

"And what of you?"

Faith turned her head away, sure she would be blushing

"Dear girl!" Hook said "There is nothing for you to be embarrassed about"

"You have had me since you first appeared on page"

Hook reached out with his hand and gently ran his fingers across her cheek

"My dear girl, what a touching sentiment" Hook cooed over her.

It was often believed that James Hook was a man made entirely of darkness and bad thoughts, any other side of him has never been well documented, yet he was a man able to appreciate romanticism and feel nice things as well as being the murderous pirate we all know him to be. James Hook often liked to stand among pretty flowers and would shed a tear to the most beautiful of harpsichord music, he was far from incapable of showing romance and he could appreciate romantic sentiments as well as Shakespeare himself, if he was given the chance. This does not mean that what we know him best for was just an act, no- he was cruel, fearsome and capable of many vicious and vile atrocities too, but he was so much more than that.

Faith turned her head up so slightly and her grey eyes met his blue and she was not afraid, nor was she embarrassed or shy, she looked into his eyes just as boldly as he looked into hers, Hook laid his forefinger under her chin and for a moment it was as if her heart had stopped, he brushed her bottom lip with his thumb, they could not have been more serene, until the cabin door was thrust wide open. Smee stood in a panic at the door way.

"What is it?" Hook growled, angry that his moment had been disturbed

"It's Pan" Smee said "He's back"

"How many lost boys with him this time?"

Smee looked upwards as if trying to remember

"Seven, cap'n" He said eventually

"It's only a matter of time before he comes back here" Hook said

"Maybe" Faith said "But, you know Pan, he has probably forgotten that you ever existed"

Peter Pan had not forgotten about Captain James Hook, not at all, it had been his proudest and most spectacular defeat of any of the pirates he had sought to kill, it was a story that he often boasted to the lost boys and it had given him a taste for killing pirates, luckily for Hook, Peter Pan had not at all anticipated that the crocodile would not finish him off and happily went about his business assuming the pirate captain was well and truly dead.

Days went by and the news of Pans return had agitated Hook greatly, he paced the length of his vast quarters whilst Faith looked on

"Please, I need to be by myself" Hook had told her one afternoon, so Faith made her way from the Captains quarters onto the deck, she stood, leaning on the edge of the boat, looking at the island, she could see the beach and just about make out the port, she looked down at her legs, that tattoos were almost healed she thought, they no longer stung nor did they itch so much, she actually quite liked them. Smee walked up behind her

"Is there anything I could get you miss?" he asked

"I could do with a cigarette and a shot of vodka!" Faith said

"Well, I don't know about that, but I could get you a cigar and some rum" Smee replied

"Yes, That will do just as nicely" Faith said

Smee returned with a small glass of rum which Faith downed in one drink almost immediately, Smee handed her a cigar and lit it once she had it securely in her mouth, Faith hadn't often smoked a cigar, she had always found them too expensive, she relished in it's earthy taste and heavy smoke, blissfully unaware that she was being watched.

Peter Pan and his lost boys were sitting high up within the clouds, Peter holding a telescope to his eye.

"There is a Wendy on the Jolly Roger" He said "She is surely not my Wendy"

The other lost boys looked at him

"We must rescue her immediately" Pan cried!

At that moment Faith had turned around and For the first time Peter saw what she looked like from the front and gasped. One of the Lost boys, who looked older than any of the other boys snatched the telescope

"She is surely not your Wendy!" The lost boy said "She is a grown up! And the tattoos, she must be a pirate"

The telescope was snatched up one by one by the other lost boys, each wanting to take a look at this pirate. Faith was still smoking the cigar and was looking absent mindedly into the clouds, Pan and his lost boys were too far up and too hidden by the suns glare for her to have seen them, they watched her intently discussing her.

"She is just standing there" one of the lost boys said "She is obviously not dangerous"

The oldest of the boys snatched the telescope again

"She is obviously captain, you see how the others treat her differently, and that one there in the red hat, is he serving her?"

Peter Pan jumped up at once

"Impossible!" He shouted "Those pirates would never elect a girl as their captain, besides she doesn't look at all fearsome enough, she is probably just a story teller!"

"Peter, you are always far too sure of yourself" The older boy said

"Rooster, I knew I should not have brought you here!" Pan shouted, angrily stamping his foot "You are too close to being a grown up!"

Rooster was indeed close to being a grown up, Peter Pan had taken him away just days before his 16th birthday, Rooster had begged to go to Neverland and Pan had refused at first, but, eventually gave in when Rooster had shown him his collection of army figurines, Rooster was ambitious and had his mind set on becoming leader of the lost boys, he was older than Pan and therefore thought himself to be a better leader. Rooster did not appreciate Peter's dismissal of the girl, being that bit older, Rooster had learnt to examine the unknown in meticulous detail until one was absolutely sure, Pan however, ignored and often forgot about that which he did not know of and was already flying off to spy on the grown ups in port.


	8. Fear and games

**AN: I have not updated this in an absolute age! I am so sorry to those that have been reading! I HAVE NOT forgotten about you! I've been concerntrating on my other story and there has been a lot of stuff going on in my life, all adding up to me not writing as often as I should! as soon as my other story is finished this will have my all =D as always please leave a review, they make my day and I need some cheering up! and more importantly...enjoyy!**

Hook had not requested that Faith leave him be since the afternoon when Pan had watched the Jolly Roger, yet she spent more and more of her time away from the captains quarters, walking around the deck. The captain himself had become increasingly withdrawn, this in part was what made Faith spend much of her time away from his quarters. As she paced the deck confusion filled her mind, she had escaped the life she loathed and she was grateful of that, but, that was not what confused her. What confused her was the Captain whom she now lived with, on one hand she had been his from the moment she read about him as a child but on the other hand for the most part she found him utterly terrifying, he often treated her as if she were just an object and the way he had 'punished' her when he caught her stealing from him was an experience that haunted her and would go on to haunt her for her entire life, thus she felt guilty when he'd walk towards her and butterflies would erupt in her stomach, surely it was wrong for her to want the man who did that to her.

She had circled the ships deck for the 10th time that day, silently contemplating her situation and surroundings. She groaned and sat herself down next to some barrels, most of the ships crew were far to scared of their captain to even look at her, let alone talk to her, occasionally Smee would ask if she needed anything, but that was it, Hook didn't speak to anyone any more, instead he spent his days lost in his thoughts and fears.

It was an unusually warm morning when he finally spoke his fears, Faith had awoken second, as usual and Hook was at his desk, deep in thought, as usual and as usual Faith's first course of action was to was her face and hands in the now lukewarm water in the small basin at the back of the cabin, she inspected herself in the mirror and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"I was thinking I'd go over to the island today" She said

"You will do no such thing" Hook replied, massaging his temple with his hand

"I am fed up of being stuck on this damned ship" Faith said "I want to go over to the island"

Hook stood from his chair and walked towards her, eventually backing her into a corner

"And how do you intend to protect yourself when Pan and his lot attack you?" he sneered "Do you expect him to play fair? Because he won't! As far as Pan is concerned you are a grown up and therefore his enemy, he would kill you and not give a second thought about doing so!"

"I don't care!" Faith said "I just want to get off this ship"

Her response angered the Pirate and flecks of red begun to taint his blue eyes, he smashed his hook into the wall behind her head

"You are mine" he growled "You do as I say or there will be consequences, now if I have to hurt you so that you will stay aboard this ship I will do without a second thought, do you understand?"

Faith nodded frantically

"So tell me, where are you going today?" he asked dangerously

"Nowhere" Faith whimpered

"Good girl, the island is far too dangerous"

Hook stroked her hair, this frustrated Faith, she was more intelligent than that, she resented being treated as if she was his pet.

"Why are you so scared?" She asked demandingly

"Did you never listen to a word Grace said?" Hook asked "Obviously not if I have to explain to you!"

Hook walked back to his desk and sat back down

"Grace was the first grown up to come to Neverland, thus, she knows how the place works better than most people, but I'll be damned if she gives anyone a straight answer! To put a long story short, before Pans return and your arrival I could not die, not really, and now I can. I refuse to risk Pan finding out that I am still living, if he found out he'd definitely come for me and attempt to take my life once more"

Faith laced herself into her corset before leaving Hook to his thoughts, she had plans and she was going to keep them, Faith found Smee exactly where she needed him to be, by the row boats

"Morning miss" he greeted her "Do you need something?"

"Yes, actually. I'd quite like to use one of these boats, I want to see the island" Faith said

"Oh, is the Cap'n okay with you leaving the ship?" Smee asked

"Yes, he's fine with it" Faith lied

Smee was not gullible, but he liked to believe the best of people and this girl had not yet proved to be untrustworthy, thus he had no reason to suspect she was lying, he smiled and wished her a good day as he lowered her into the water. Faith had not rowed in such a long time, but it was not her first time, after a few minutes she had remembered all she thought she had forgotten about rowing and was well on her way, after half an hour, she reached the beach, She dragged the row boat up to the sand so that it would not float away then began to walk, she had gone without boots that day and the sand was pleasantly warm against her feet it made a pleasant change to the rough wood of the pirate ship. Faith walked into the forest and sat herself beneath a tree, it was warm, even in the shade, she enjoyed the warmth immensely, there was never such nice weather where she used to live. It was nice to be away from the ship, away from Hook, whose presence never failed to overload her mind with thoughts and being away from him gave her the time to organise her mind.

She closed her eyes, unaware of the danger heading her way, The lost boy was sitting in the tree tops above her, when he saw she had her eyes closed he descended and withdrew his sword and pressed it against her throat. Faith opened her eyes slowly.

"Pirate!" The boy said

Faith slowly got to her feet, she looked at the lost boy and sneered

"aren't you a bit old to be a lost boy?"

"No!" he said stubbornly "But you are the right age to be a pirate!"

Faith sighed

"I am not a pirate" She said

"You are a grown up! Peter said all grown ups are pirates and we must kill them! And when I kill you the others will follow Rooster and not Pan!"

Rooster was not skilled with a sword and could not tell the difference between fatal and non fatal strikes, yet he managed to cause Faith enough damage that if he left her there she would certainly have bled to death, but Faith was very lucky and even though Rooster had walked off, assuming she was as good as dead. Unknown to her, not long after she set foot on the beach, Hook had called Smee to his quarters, he asked him to bring Faith to him.

"She's not back yet" Smee said simply, fearful of the Captain

"She's not back yet?" Hook repeated "Where is she?"

"On the mainland of course, she said you let her go"

Hook was seething at the news that she had disobeyed and mislead him

"Take some of the crew to the mainland and bring her back" he said in his most dangerous voice "NOW!"

Smee hurried out of the room and gathered up a small crew to bring the girl back to the captain, the pirates being more adept at rowing, made it to the island in much better time than Faith had, they split up, believing that their Captain would be less angry if they found her quickly. It was a well built, tanned pirate that found her, he lifted her over his shoulder and rushed to the beach where the boats were, it seemed as if the other pirates had given up on the search as most of them were waiting at the boats, upon seeing the girl injured, fear filled them, their Captain would not be pleased if she arrived dead. They rowed back to the ship with such ferocity they were back at the ship in record time.

The pirates bundled into the captains quarters

"We found her Cap'n" Smee said, nervously and the rest of the pirates stepped aside for the tanned one carrying Faith, Hook had had a metal tipped whip ready for her punishment, but his anger softened as he saw her in the pirates arms, barely alive.

"What are you doing just standing there?!" He shouted "Lay her on the bed, fetch some bandages and something to clean her wounds with"

Faith was placed onto the bed and the pirates filed out of the room, Smee fetched the medical supplies. Smee returned to the injured girl quickly

"She'll need to be undressed" He said

Hook nodded and with a swift movement cut through her clothes with his hook, he was too impatient to unlace her corset and dress. Smee worked quickly, cleaning her wounds and then bandaging them, Smee turned to Hook

"It's all up to God now" He said sombrely

Hook sent Smee away from his quarters and sat himself on the edge of the bed, watching Faith intently as her chest rose and fell with her shallow breathing.

"Stupid girl" he muttered as Faith let out a small, weak moan from the pain she was in.

Faith slept for 3 days, waking occasionally when Hook decided she needed water, in which case, he'd prop her up and hold a cup of water to her lips until she had drank a satisfactory amount, he'd then lay her back down she was practically unaware she had been moved at all. On the 3rd day she awoke in pain.

"Hook" She mumbled weakly

Hook was shocked to hear her speak

"Captain?" She mumbled

Hook walked over to her and sat next to her on the bed and watched as her eyes flickered open

"You called for me" He said, simply stating the truth

Faith tried to sit up, but it was too painful, Hook saw her struggle and, ever the gentleman, helped her sit up.

"You disobeyed me" Hook said sternly

"I know. I shouldn't have done that" Faith replied quietly "You said there'd be. . . consequences?"

"And indeed there was, look at the state you are in, I will not punish you this time, but, if you disobey me like this again, well need I go on?"

"No, I understand" Faith replied

"You said that before, why should I believe you now?"

"Because I learnt my lesson, and besides in this condition, I won't be going anywhere any time soon"

"No, I know" Hook said and began to stroke the outside of her thigh with his hook, Faith rested her hand over the hook

"You haven't removed it since hearing of Pan returning" She said "It must hurt"

"I am always in Pain, my dear, the damned stump never healed right, it causes me constant agony" Hook sighed

"You should still have a break from wearing your hook, going without a break can't be good for you" She said with a shrug

"I suppose you are right" He said, standing from the bed and walking to the bureau, he first removed his red, silk shirt and placed it within a draw, then came the struggle to unharness his hook, once it was off he left it messily on top of the bureau. His arm, chest and back were covered in painful welts from the leather of the harness which kept his hook secure, in some places the leather had even cut into his skin, leaving small cuts along the welts. He rubbed his shoulder and sighed in relief

"Captain?" Faith said

"Hmm?" he replied

"Where are my clothes?"

Hook had sat himself back down next to her

"In the process of seeing to your wounds they were ruined, I gave them to Smee to repair, but he insisted you needed something new, until he is done you shall have to make do with your undergarments"

Faith crossed her arms, it was painful, all moving was painful

"Don't sulk, it's not all bad, Neverland has great healing powers after all, had you been anywhere else, you would have died" Hook said

"I'm not sulking" Faith said "I just thought I'd be able to be clothed, covered up"

"Don't you trust me?" Hook purred into her ear, stroking her cheek, Faith turned her face away from him in embarrassment, she always blushed when he looked at her like that, Hook withdrew his hand quickly, somewhat disappointed. He moved to get up but Faith laid one of her hands over his incomplete arm, as if asking him to stay.

"I was so scared" She said eventually "so scared that this was all a dream and that I would wake up back where I came from, I'd hate to go back to my old life, that's why I called for you, and I'm glad you were there to come to me"

Hook sighed

"You never fail to amaze me with your words and feelings" he said and pressed his lips to her forehead, making Faith blush bright red, seeing this made Hooks mouth curl up into an amused smirk

"So that is why you wouldn't look at me" He purred, trying to make her react in that way again, he cupped her face in his hand, stroking her cheek with his thumb, her shy reaction amused him like a game he enjoyed playing, every time she tried to look away he gently pushed her face back around so that she'd be looking at him once more. Faith gave up trying to turn away so she averted her gaze so that she was looking at his lips rather than into his eyes and that was his chance to make checkmate in the game that he was playing with her, he swiftly moved his hand so that he was holding her chin and quickly pulled her face to his, forcing his lips onto hers, pushing his tongue into her mouth and biting her lower lip. Faiths eyes went wide and she eventually found herself kissing him back, in the same forceful way he was kissing her. Hook was delighted when they finally pulled apart, he had well and truly won this game.


	9. Realisations

**AN: firstly special thankyous to Daeris Mortalitas and Lady Tourniquet for their reviews, they made me smile bigtime =D=D to everyone else, thankyou for reading anyway. enjoyyy!**

Faiths healing was relatively quick, considering the severity of her injuries, but the healing was not easy, if she moved too quickly or in the wrong way the wounds would open up again, scar tissue had started to form on the smaller wounds on her arms. The scar tissue, being fresh, felt tight and restricted her movement. It's hard for one to really imagine what it is like to lose movement in a limb, thus, we cannot really put ourselves in her place, nor can we truly understand her frustrations, of which there were many. Faith had to depend on Hook for so much, especially during the early days of her recovery, at first it came as a shock how Hook was treating her, she never once needed to ask for his help, in fact, he seemed as eager for her recovery as she was.

4 Days had passed since she awoke from her injury induced sleep, Hook had helped her over to the sofa, so that she could read.

"Those bandages need to be changed" He said

"I know" Faith had replied, looking over her book

"I'll have Smee bring the tub in here and draw you a bath"

Smee worked quickly, not wanting to cause the captain any displeasure, once he was done he stood, awkwardly, waiting to be dismissed

"I don't think the girl wants an audience" Hook sneered and with that Smee rushed from the room. Hook walked over to Faith and pulled her from the sofa with his one good arm, he held her close to him as they walked towards the metal tub, Hook pulled off the shirt she had borrowed from his bureau (as Smee had not yet finished with her dress) and then proceeded to pull off her underwear. Normally he would have removed the bandages by cutting through them with his hook, but this was not a normal situation, so he removed the bandages by slowly unwrapping them. Ashamed of her naked body, Faith tried to cover up. Hook sighed at her embarrassment and watched as she awkwardly entered the tub, Hook knelt by the tub, examining her wounds, which was no easy feat as Faith was still trying to hide her body from him.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of" Hook said to her "your wounds have to be cleaned, and you are in no state to do so yourself"

Faith relaxed herself slightly, and let Hook tend to her sore and injured body, he handled her gently, making sure not to cause her any unnecessary pain, occasionally pouring more water over her , eventually Hook helped her out of the tub and wrapped some clean bandages around her and then pulled the borrowed shirt back over her head. Faith had become overwhelmed with feelings, being quite young for a grown up, she had not yet learnt to properly control her emotions as grown ups are expected to do. Children do not control their emotions at all, and will give lewd performances over the smallest of delights and displeasures, a grown up cannot possibly act in the same manner and therefore push their strongest of emotions to the back of their mind, they call this 'self-control' And at that moment, Faith had appeared to have lost all of her self-control. Tears had welled up in her eyes, ashamed, she turned away from Hook, but he had already seen what she was trying to hide.

"My dear girl, what on earth are you crying about?" He asked

Faith sighed and tried to compose herself

"You didn't have to do that for me" She said "I never thought you could be so..." She trailed off, tears starting to form in her eyes once more

"Caring?" Hook finished her sentence "What sort of a gentleman would I be if I just let you suffer? Do you really think so little of me?" Hook walked across to the bureau and removed his shirt and unfastened his hook "And, you seem to forget, I know what it's like to be terribly injured" He raised his stump to emphasise his point. Faith had sat herself on the bed, Hook sat himself next to her, smoking a cigar. It would be a lie to say that Faith was comfortable around our unlikely protagonist, in fact, he made her very nervous, she had witnessed how quickly his mood could change and had been subjected to his punishment and games, her discomfort made her instinctively move away from him so that there was a gap between them, Hook had picked up on her reaction, he knew he was entirely to blame for it and sighed in disappointment with himself. He rested the cigar in an ash tray and reached over to hold one of Faith's hands.

"You are uncomfortable around me" he started, he opened his mouth to continue, but closed it again quickly, realising that he did not know what to say next "and I don't like it" he finished abruptly

"You are not the easiest person to live with Captain" she said

Hook knew it was the truth

"How so, my dear?" He asked

"well, honestly, you scare me sometimes, I mean, you can be a complete gentleman, but then with the smallest thing, you snap and become something horrid, I'm always scared that I'll do something wrong around you"

"Ah, I see" Hook said "and this is why you do not trust me"

"No, I do not trust you because your idea of punishment is rape" Faith said angrily "Whipping or beating- I could have dealt with, but what you did was far worse than any punishment should be"

Hook, looked away in shame

"What I did was in such bad form, I let my urges take over, you couldn't imagine how I regret the way I acted, I can assure you that it will not happen again"

James Hook had never been more ashamed of himself than he had been at that moment. To rape had been the most ungentlemanly thing that he had ever done, and it may have made him lose the girl completely, had he been any other man or she been any other girl, he would have lost her, but there was something that made him think one day she would willingly give him what he had forcefully taken. Hook had returned to smoking his cigar, lazily blowing smoke rings, his eyes closed as if he were deep in thought, Faith looked at him suspiciously, noticing the still irritated, red welts running over his arm and body

"They'll never get any better if you keep putting the thing back on" She said seriously

Hook opened one of his eyes

"hmm?" he questioned

Faith ran a finger down one of the welts, causing Hook to feel a sharp, burning pain

"They're not going to get any better" she repeated and Hook smirked, she was worried about him and she probably didn't understand why.

"In Neverland, sometimes the simplest and most unlikely of cures work the best" Hook sighed "sometimes, just giving it time isn't enough"

Faith looked at him, confused

"Tell me, what things you know are powerful here" Hook said "You should know"

Faith thought for a few seconds

"Well, there's imagination" Faith said

"Go on"

"Well, then I suppose belief goes hand in hand with imagination" Faith thought hard, remembering the book she had read and the films she had watched "err...Kisses?" she finished, uncertainly

"You're quite right, kisses are powerful here, real kisses that is. Pan, being the eternal child will never know a true kiss, true kisses are something to be shared, not given, it is a concept he will never understand"

"I don't understand what that has to do with your healing"

"Tell me, when you were a child and you did something stupid and ended up hurt, didn't your mother ever 'kiss it better'?"

"You're not serious?" Faith said, but Hook was being serious "but that's so..."

"Childish, I know, but Neverland was created for children"

Faith looked away from him

"I don't expect anything of you" Hook said "You needn't worry"

Faith turned her body towards him, it hurt her, but the pain passed once she had settled in a comfortable position, Hook looked at her strangely, unsure of how he should react as she lifted his right arm to her lips, awkwardly trailing kisses along the dark red welts, he angled his body to face her as she reached his shoulder, seeing how her movement was causing her pain, he flinched in pain as she moved onto the worst welt running across his chest, stretching across him was painful for her and Hook could see it and pushed her away.

"You did exceedingly well, but I will not have you causing yourself pain on my account" He said

"I don't understand you, is it no fun for you when I freely give myself to you and do what you want me to!" Faith turned her head from him, sulkily.

"You were in pain, I will not let you hurt yourself for my sake!" Hook replied, frustrated

"You are angry with me" Faith sighed

Hook shook his head and put his right arm around her shoulders.

They would have looked quite like a Loving couple had Faith had not still been looking away from him, confused. Hook had finished with his cigar and was lightly stroking her cheek, he did not want the girl thinking he was mad at her, they sat together silently until darkness fell.

"I think some fresh air will do you good" Hook said in a softer voice than usual

He lifted her from the bed and picked up his red coat, draping it over her shoulders

"It will be cold out there" he said and walked her out to the deck, he was right, it was cold, the crew had stowed themselves away below deck to escape the bitter winds. Faith pulled the coat tighter around her body and looked towards the island

"aren't you scared that the lost boys might be watching us?" She asked Hook

"No, my men have been watching them, they no longer leave their hideout after dark, it appears as if ghost stories have caught their interest, they are now far too scared to be outside after dark"

Hook was standing behind her, with his arms making sure that she was close to him. There are many marvellous sights to be seen in Neverland during the day, but there are even more during the night when all things mysterious come out of their hiding places, the moon is almost always full and casts an eerie yet beautiful glow over the island, dancing over the lagoon. It was a glow that caught Faiths attention, coming from the middle of the island like a star had been born there, she gasped in awe and Hook lowered his head to her ear.

"When your wounds are more healed, I'll take you over there to see it" He purred into her ear, Faith turned around, wanting to thank him, instead she let out a gasp, having forgotten he was still shirtless.

"You must be freezing" She said, Hook just smirked and held her closer to him, her face pressed against his chest, slowly her hands moved around to his back, caressing the cold flesh, he shivered slightly from a mix of pleasure and the cold temperature. He thought for a second, maybe the moment was right for him to bring her evermore closer to him, her fingers were running through his hair, her cheek pressed against his chest, eyes closed as if she were remembering something happy, she sighed and the moment was gone, Hook simply kissed her on the forehead and let her arms tighten around him. A strong wind passed over the ship, forcing them back inside the captains quarters, a meal had been laid out on the table, Hook looked at it, unimpressed.

"I shall have to send my men over to the island to get some more food" He sighed "We can hardly live off of just bread and cheese"

Faith ate quietly and slowly, not noticing how Hook was watching her, if she had noticed her face would have turned red, as it often did when he looked at her, Hook enjoyed it when she reacted to him in such a way, it showed him that she wanted him, if only she wasn't as shy, yes he did often find her shyness endearing, but, she often couldn't look at him because of it and he wanted that to change.

"I think" He started to say "The real reason you won't look at me, is not because you don't trust me, but, because you don't trust yourself around me" He smirked as she looked up at him, shocked

"You're wrong" Faith replied.

She was quite sure he had been wrong, yet there was something at the back of her mind that thought, maybe, just maybe he was right, after all she had felt so many things towards him and had secretly relished in the brief moments in which she had let her guard down.

"No, I think I'm quite right" He teased her, moving from his chair to stand behind her, stroking her neck. Faith stood too and turned to face him, a devious smirk appeared on Hooks face, it was the same one he wore whenever he was about to get his own way. Faith, not being unintelligent, understood this smirk and a look of her own came to her face, one Hook had not seen on her and therefore didn't quite understand.

"I know what you want" He said and Faith raised her eyebrows, draping her arms around his neck. She brought her face close to his and felt his breath against her lips, his eyes were closed, readying himself for the cascade of kisses he was expecting that would be just the beginning of all he expected. The kisses started at the base of his neck then worked up to his jawline and finally to his lips, Faith began to push him gently towards the bed, when he opened his eyes, Faith was laying next to him, propped up carefully on her elbow, his shirt hung loosely over her shoulders, undone and exposing her cleavage.

"You know what I want?"

"Yes" He leant over and kissed her neck

"What I really want?"

"Yes" His kisses moved to her lips

"What I really want is..." His kisses silenced her temporarily "A good nights sleep" she finally finished, curling up against him and closing her eyes. Hook began to grumble under his breath, occasionally Faith could make out a few words like 'devious blasted woman' and would have to stifle a giggle. It didn't take her long to fall into a deep and dreamless sleep. In our world, everyone dreams, we have no choice over it, we don't always remember the dreams, but, we still have them. In Neverland you don't always dream, you don't need to, who needs dreams in a world where there is such magic? Faiths breathing softened, and this was what alerted Hook that she was sleeping, he sighed and wrapped his arms around her, He kissed her forehead and pulled her all the more closer to him before going to sleep himself.

Day by day, Faith got stronger and her wounds healed a bit more, long, painful scars ran down her arm and torso, one wound in particular was still slightly open, Hook changed the bandage on it every other day, it concerned him how it wasn't healing as well as the other ones.

"When are we going over to the island?" She asked "You said you'd take me when I was more healed"

Hook was a man of his word, to go back on his promise to her would be such bad form, he thought for a bit

"We'll go tonight" He finally said

Smee had finally finished with making Faiths new clothes, she had chosen to wear a scarlet dress that matched Hooks scarlet outfit, Hook had called Faith over to him, where he stood in front of the mirror

"Look" he commanded, signalling to the mirror

"A fine pair, don't you think?" He purred, using his hook to pull her hair away from her face.

Faith stared at the reflection, entranced, what she saw was not what she expected, not just a runaway and a pirate, what she saw was so much more than that.

"A fine pair indeed" She agreed with him

Hook smiled, he liked it when people agreed with him and satisfied, he sat at his desk, placed two cigars in his forked holder, lit them and relaxed, if there was something that could relax him more than a fine cigar, it was two fine cigars, Faith watched him, enviously.

"Can I have one?" She asked

"What?"

"A Cigar...Can I have one?"

"Certainly not, smoking is most unladylike"

"Smee lets me smoke"

"Well from now on, he doesn't, I forbid it"

Faith groaned unhappily, wanting nothing more than to smoke

"My dear, sulking does not become you" Hook said, making his way over to Faith "You'll forgive me by the time we reach the island tonight"

Of course, he was right, almost immediately as her foot touched the sand she had forgiven him, he draped his velvet cloak over her shoulders before leading her through the forest.

"You must stay very still and very quiet" Hook whispered in her ear, he held her close to his body and they waited, suddenly a small glowing thing flew past Faiths face, soon they were surrounded by the small glowing creatures, each trailing a golden dust behind it, Faith knew what they were -fairies. The fairy dust fell onto their shoulders and Faith had an idea, she turned around and looked at Hook

"Think of something happy" she said "trust me" She then wrapped her arms around him tightly and they slowly rose a few feet into the air

"Gods bollocks!" Hook gasped "We're flying"

suddenly the fairies all flew off, Hook and faith fell to the ground

"listen" he growled, there were voices coming from further through the forest

"Ghosts" a voice said "I told you we shouldn't have come out here, Peter will be so angry"

"Lost boys" Hook growled, reaching into his coat, he pulled out a pistol, cocked it and handed it to Faith "Do not be afraid to use it" He then pulled out a pistol for himself, He put his hook arm around her and lead her through the forest, looking for a safe place. They did not get far before the lost boys descended upon them.

"Run" Hook said to Faith "Hide"

Faith did not want to run and leave Hook behind, but the red had appeared in his eyes, and she knew better than to anger him when that happened, she ran back the way they had came from and then even further, eventually finding a small cave near the lagoon to hide in. Faith was scared, she listened intently for sounds of a struggle, but it was in vain, she had run too far to have heard anything of the battle. Faith crouched behind a rock, shaking in fear, she held onto the pistol tightly in one hand and pulled the cloak around her with the other, it smelt strongly of rum and cigars, faith sighed happily and calmly as the smell entered her nostrils.

It's often in such moments of intense emotional energy that the most confusing of things are made quite simple and obvious, yet as human beings, we have the uncanny ability to remain completely oblivious to everything but what is on the very surface of the situation and pay very little thought to anything deeper, and, that was exactly what Faith had done. She had been so stuck on the idea of mortal peril that she had failed to realise she was so fearful over Hooks life, nor had she realised that it had been his scent on the cloak that had calmed her so. Being that she hadn't noticed such obvious things, there was no possibility of her realising the real reason why Hook had forced her to run, the truth was that he did not want her to see him in such a way, it was not the lost boys he was trying to protect her from, but himself.


	10. Wish

**AN: Thankyou Kiriari and Daeris Mortalitas for the reviews, and thankyou to everyone that has read this lately! here is the next chapter....enjoy!**

Fear is a strange thing, it can distort and enhance ones senses. For instance, a distant sound may seem as if it is coming from within your own head or quite ordinary things can take on all together horrifying appearances, one might even jump at the sight of their own shadow. As she crouched behind the rock, Faith was scared, her heart beat uncomfortably fast and her breathing quickened and suddenly stopped. Faith could have swore she heard something, She held her breath, listening intensely, all that greeted her ears was silence. Faith let herself breathe once more, and there it came again, a sound, a twig snapping she thought as she withdrew further behind the rock. She peeked over the top, staring in the direction she had heard the sound come from. She heard it before she saw it, the sound was like footsteps, cautious, uneasy footsteps. Whoever, or whatever was out there didn't want to be heard, like a living shadow, it came into view and walked ever closer to her hiding place.

No one could have anticipated such a thrilling turn of events that would leave out heroine in such a dire position, Faith had never been particularly brave, but she was given a choice, live or die? It's human instinct to choose live, and Faith had a gun and whilst it was true she only had one shot and did not know how to shoot, she had the desire to live. She aimed the pistol as well as she could, took a deep breath, shot and missed, whoever was out there now knew of her hiding place and was sure to be making their way closer to her, in a desperate, last attempt at keeping her life, Faith threw the gun at the shadow that had walked from the forest, and once more, she missed. Faith resigned herself to her fate and curled up in a ball behind the rock, holding onto the cloak tightly, and in what she was sure was her last moment, she whispered a prayer. She felt the hood of the cloak get pulled down, uncovering her face, and then a rough hand lightly pressed against her cheek.

"Are you okay?" asked the voice of James Hook

Faith slowly opened her eyes, she could just about make out the features of Hook's face in the darkness, and relief filler her body, Faith grabbed the lapels of his coat and pushed herself into his chest.

"Oh Captain!" She cried "I was so scared, I didn't think you'd come to find me, there were so many of them"

"It's easy when they think you're a ghost, they don't know how to fight ghosts yet" Hook joked

Faith was hysterical, tears were pouring down her cheeks.

"Shhh" Hook tried to hush her "Everything is alright, you are safe now"

Faith let go of his coat and looked up at him, Hook reached into his pocket and pulled out a silk handkerchief, he lightly dabbed at the tears on her cheeks. Suddenly Hooks brow furrowed, and he pushed faith further away from the opening of the cave, he held onto her tight, praying the darkness would hide them sufficiently. Outside of the cave, the moon seemed to be glowing brighter, casting an eerie blue light over the lagoon and surrounding area, Hook knew what he was watching for, Faith did not, when she saw it, she had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp.

It could have almost passed as a young boy, almost. It crawled across the ground on gangly, twisted limbs in a primal, animal-like fashion. It wasn't until it looked up and cocked it's head, staring into the cave that Faith was truly afraid of it. It's teeth were pointed and jagged and there was no colour in it's eyes which were entirety black, even where the whites of it's eyes should have been was black. It sniffed the air, had this creature smelt them? Could this be the end of our most unlikely couple? The creature moved slowly closer to the cave, but then distracted by a sound far off in the forest, looked around and crawled away. Hook watched the clearing outside of the cave, for a further ten minutes before letting go of Faith.

"Captain" She said "What was that?"

"That, my dear, was our darling Peter Pan" He sneered "Not what you expected?"

"I thought Peter Pan was meant to be just a little boy"

"Ahh, well you do tend to only hear of him from children, and, children only see things as they want them to be, not as they are"

"Captain, can we go back to the ship, what if he comes back? I'm scared"

"We couldn't get back to the ship before day break, there is another safe place we can get to from here though, do not be scared, I will protect you"

Hook helped Faith stand up and wrapped his hook arm tightly around her, he lead her cautiously out of the cave, they kept to the denser areas of forest, Faith stumbled awkwardly and often lost her footing, but Hook's vice like hold on her always ensured that she never fell. Faith was tired, she felt as if they had been walking for hours.

"It's not far" Hook assured her, pushing through the last of the tall grass and forest, they stepped onto a small piece of beach, A row boat was tied up to a wooden mooring pin, wedged in the sand, an imposing castle stood in the sea ahead of them. Hook untied the boat and pushed it to the sea, He helped Faith step into the boat before getting in, himself. Faith motioned to grab the oars, but even with only one hand, Hook was still better at rowing than she was, of course he let her try, after a few strokes, he laughed and took the oars from her hands and took over the rowing.

The castle was a huge, imposing structure that had been a part of Neverland since before Captain Hook had stepped foot on the island, it was the one place that Peter Pan never showed any interest in, therefore it was the perfect place for Hook to use as a hideout. The bottom floor of the castle had become eroded in time, and water passed through the building. Hook brought the boat to the edge of an in tact piece of floor, near the staircase. Hook pulled Faith from the boat and lead her up the staircase and into a small room.

"This" He said "Is my home from home"

In the centre of the room was a small dining table, A bed was positioned in the far side of the room, opposite a fireplace.

"I'm afraid there is no firewood" Hook said "Fortunately, the winter blankets are here"

"It gets cold here I take it?" Faith said

"We are in a building made of stone, the windows are but holes in the wall and the sea runs through the lower floor, of course it gets cold here"

Faith had stood herself by the hole in the wall that passed as a window, enjoying how the breeze felt against her skin, meanwhile Hook was looking into a chest, Faith heard him rummage about in it and then there were two thuds on the table. Faith turned around and saw two bottles on the table, whilst Hook had begun looking through a second chest.

"No damned cups" He sighed before standing upright again "I hope you don't mind drinking from the bottle"

"I don't mind at all" Faith said

Hook grabbed both bottles in his one hand and walked to the bed.

"We'll be stuck here for some time, might as well be comfortable, and with what's happened tonight, we deserve a drink" He said

Faith sat on the bed with him and using his hook, the Captain took the cork from a bottle and handed it to Faith and then proceeded to uncork his own bottle.

Faith liked to drink, she liked to drink a lot, she needed no encouragement to get her lips wrapped around the bottle, she lapped up the rum eagerly, then put the bottle on the floor so that she could recline slightly, Hook too had put down his rum, in favour of a cigar, Faith watched him enviously as he smoked it and Hook grinned, knowing how much she wanted to be smoking it too. Hook took a drag of his cigar then proceeded to blow his smoke into Faiths face

"I Hate you" Faith said, glaring at him, Hook laughed at her reaction and shook his head

"No you don't, in fact, I think you actually quite like me" He teased and Faith resumed her drinking. Hook finished his cigar silently before picking up his bottle of rum once more, he looked over at Faith and was shocked to see half of her bottle already empty.

"You should slow down you know, you'll just get ill otherwise"

Faith put the bottle back on the stone floor and rested her head on the captain's shoulder, already feeling drunk, she began to stroke his cheek, giggling to herself. Hook sighed

"You're drunk." He said

"Hmmm, yeah." Faith replied, nuzzling his neck

"So that's the type of drunk you are" Hook said, placing his rum back on the floor, He put his hand beneath her chin and tilted her head so that she was looking at him, it was dark, but, he could still make out her face turning red. Faith opened her mouth to speak, but the words were gone, she thought for a second then opened her mouth again

"I" she started "I think...I think, I. . ." that was as far as she got, as mid sentence her head fell back onto Hooks shoulder and she was asleep, Hook threw his coat to the floor and pulled the covers up over them, he wrapped his arms around Faith and kissed her forehead

"I know, Love." He whispered, sadly before allowing himself some sleep.

What did he know? I hear you ask, well don't fret dear readers with a tale set for such tragedy you are sure to find out, but for now, don't think on it, our unlikely heroes have much more unsettling problems to come face to face with first. During the fight, Hook had killed all but one of the lost boys, who was sure to have ran off to tell Peter Pan, who would surely fly away from Neverland to collect an army of lost boys to lead an attack on this 'ghost of Hook' of course they'd need to learn how to fight a ghost first, that would buy Hook and Faith some time. And then there was Grace, mysterious and the first grown up to set foot on Neverland, but, not wholly trustworthy. Grace always knew more than she let on, if one assumes that everything happens for a reason, she always knew the reason, but you'd be the luckiest person alive if she ever told you. She had been a friend to Hook, a useful ally, but he was always wary of her, he was not the only person she advised.

Daylight broke, waking the sleeping pirate, Faith was curled up against his chest, breathing lightly, Hook gently pushed her aside and got up to search the castle for any leftover food there might have been, all he could find was a tin of biscuits, he brought it back to the room quietly. Had he not stubbed his toe and swore loudly, Faith would not have awoken until the evening. The word Fuck echoed within her head painfully. Faith clutched at her forehead and groaned. Hook went to her side and stroked her hair.

"How are you feeling?" Hook asked, knowing she was feeling terrible

"Delicate" Faith replied quietly, sitting up and then pressing her forehead to Hooks shoulder

"Delicate?" Hook repeated

"Yes! Delicate" she replied

"My delicate, little, flower" Hook cooed, kissing her forehead

Faith couldn't bring herself to reply, her head was hurting far too much

"We flew last night...well, hovered really" Hook stated "You know how...tell me"

Faith groaned, not in the mood for talking

"You cover yourself in fairy dust then think happy thoughts" She said flatly

"Ahh yes, you did tell me to think of something happy" He said, stroking his goatee "I'm curious, what was your happy thought?"

Faith was not about to give Hook the pleasure of knowing that he had been her happy thought, so she lied

"Being off of that damned ship" Faith said eventually, Hook knew she was lying, she had taken far too long to answer him, but, he never showed he knew she was lying

"Well, you were my happy thought, The way you held me, no one had held onto me like that in such a long time"

"No one?"

"Not a soul, with such fallacies about me floating about, who can blame them? What woman would want to hold onto a miserable, old, cruel, uncaring pirate such as myself?" He replied in pained tones and Faith wrapped her arms tightly around Hook and kissed his jaw

"Don't try to make me feel better" He said "It is a fact that I have come to accept" But the look on his face was not one of acceptance, instead his face only showed sadness, his bright blue eyes dulled with his heavy thoughts. Faith began playing with Hook's hair, stroking it and running her fingers through it, occasionally stretching out one of his curls and letting it spring back into place. A sad smile crept onto Hook's face, Faith pushed his cheek with one hand so that he would turn his head her way, she then went on to firmly press her lips against his, his hair fell either side of her face, lightly brushing against her skin. Hook pulled away abruptly.  
"Don't" Faith said, once again forcing her lips onto his. Hook put his arms around Faith and pulled her close to him and in that moment his heart made a wish, Surely to wish was a silly thing for a grown man to do, yet, he wished his wish with everything he had.


	11. Infected

**AN:I had a mega writers block doing this chapter, luckily, I have a pretty clear idea of where the next one will be, so thats all good! Thankyous to Daeris Mortalitas, Kiriari and Spookysister7 for their reviews (= heres the next chapter...enjoyyy!**

The plan was that they'd wait in the castle until nightfall and then row back to the ship, but, as is often the case in Neverland, the plan was disrupted, their tender moment ended abruptly when Hook went rigid

"Do you hear that?" He asked fearfully

Faith listened and a hideous sound entered her ears, creaking, clicking and snapping. Faith looked into Hook's panic stricken eyes.

"We have to hide" Hook said, picking up his pistol, Faith followed him from the room, stealthily, they made their way to the highest tower of the castle, a portion of the wall was missing.

"What was that sound?" Faith asked

"Think, you've heard it before"

"Pan" Faith gasped

"His bones, so twisted and distorted, you never forget that sound" Hook sneered, pushing a large, heavy chest against the door, the sitting on the floor with his back against it. Faith sat herself next to him and grasped his wrist in fear

"Do not be afraid, I will protect you" Hook assured her and suddenly the rattling of Peter Pan's distorted bones seemed to be getting quieter and moving away from them, they would have thought themselves safe had the sound of bells not become so clear in the air, Hook stood suddenly and stood by the hole in the wall, then quickly extended an arm.

"Fairy" He growled, tightening his grip, suffocating it slowly.

"We can fly to the ship!" Faith exclaimed "Don't kill it, we need the dust"

"You really think we'll make it all the way to the ship?" Hook asked

"Of course we can" Faith replied

"We don't have much time, Pan will be expecting her to report back" Hook said "You said, we need to cover ourselves in it's dust, correct?"

Faith nodded and Hook began to violently shake the fairy above his head, then proceeded to do the same for Faith, before tightening his grip around the fairy, killing it with a horrid crunching sound.

Faith was first to jump from the tower. She leapt in a smooth diving motion and her happy thought ensured that she did not plummet to the ground. she turned around and waited for Hook, who was standing apprehensively at the edge of the tower. Faith reached her hands out towards him, and that was when she caught sight of it once more.

Things often look more horrid by night, but Peter Pan looked just as terrifying by day, Faith could clearly see his grey toned, corpse like skin as he scaled the wall of the castle towards the tower, moving like an injured spider. Fear filled Faith's heart and she began to fall, this was what gave Hook the courage to jump from the tower, He swooped gracefully downwards and grasped Faith tightly by the waist, Faith prayed that Peter Pan had not seen them, if he had it would surely have been the end of this story. Of course they did not feel it at the time, but they were lucky, at that moment, they were the luckiest people that had ever existed. The sun had been so bright that it easily masked them and Peter Pan had not seen them. The sped through the sky, over the ocean, Hook held her ever tighter as they approached the ship. They landed forcefully on the deck, Hook still had hold of Faith as they regained their balance. Faith turned around and rested her cheek against his chest, she felt the ridge of his leather harness through his shirt. She wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes, the mornings events had left her feeling weary and tired..

The adrenaline that had kept her going through such fear had begun to wear off, leaving her feeling weak, she was grateful that Hook had not relinquished his vice like hold on her, she was sure that if he had loosened his grip she would have fallen to the floor. Tine has very little meaning in Neverland, a single moment can seem to last forever. That moment that Hook and Faith shared was one that lasted forever, both having just escaped such peril they were both very emotionally charged. Holding onto each other, it was as if they had escaped to their own special place. Neither of them seemed to notice when the ships crew came to the deck and stood, staring. Like a stone being thrown through a window, Smee spoke and smashed their private place into a hundred pieces.

"Captain" He said, hesitantly "I have some bad news"

"What is it, Smee?" Hook asked angrily

"Pan came aboard ship last night, he still thinks you're dead, but, he wants the girl"

Hook tightened his arms around Faith protectively

"He wants to kill her" Smee finished

Hook's grip on Faith tightened ever more

"Excuse us, Smee" Hook said, showing no emotion in his voice. Hook took faith to his cabin where he began pacing, agitated. Faith watched him, growing concerned

"Captain" She said eventually "Please, stop worrying about it, you're making me nervous!"

but it was as if he hadn't heard her, he just continued pacing and Faith continued pleading with hin to calm down. When Faith could take no more, she stood up, walked over to him and placed her hands either side of his face.

"James!" She said sternly "Calm down, I need you calm right now, after all, it's not you that he wants to kill"

Faith pressed her cheek against his torso and Hook wrapped his arms around her once more

"You just called me James" He noted, smiling to himself, believing it to be a good thing. She had not spoken his first name at all since he had 'punished' her.

The reply he got from her was "mmhmm"

"you needn't be scared, I'll protect you. Always" Hook told her

"Always?"

"Always and forever, I promise"

Faith sighed and her hands moved down from his face to his arms. She would have liked to have believed him, but, in her heart she felt that he could not protect her so completely. Hooks hand travelled up her back and entwined itself in her hair. Faith lifted her head upwards and her grey eyes met his blue, a strange and sad fear filled her, tears made their way to her eyes.

"Oh, James! I don't want to die" she cried, thrusting herself into his chest once more

"No, Love. No one wants to" He held her close to him until her tears stopped, then wiped the last one from her cheek with a soft sweeping motion of his thumb "I will not let Pan, or anyone else, take you away from me" Hook said in an uncharacteristically gentle voice.

The fear that Faith felt was strange to her, she had never before feared death as much, she hadn't feared it at all when she threw herself from the pier. Neverland had been many things to her; Fear, happiness, pleasure, lust and sadness alike, but, in this place she had found a reason to live also. Hook could read her so easily, she was an open book to him, he understood each furrowing of her brow and knew the meaning to all that she said to him. He saw life burn within her grey eyes, brighter than ever before, it saddened him to think of it diminishing once more. Hook then thought of the changes in himself, he had lost his immortality and in his mind, it was worth losing, for what he had gained was so much more special, he had found something he would give his life for.

Night fell, Hook lay in bed with Faith curled up next to him, her head resting on his chest, a discarded book lay on top of the covers.

"Did it end in a kiss?" Hook asked her

"They all end in a kiss" Faith replied sleepily

"Not always"

Faith fell asleep quickly, and found herself in troubled dreams.

She was on a familiar beach, next to a familiar pier. She was alone and frightened. Faith looked around, seeing only the run down arcades in the distance.

"Captain!" she called out, there was no answer "James!" her voice echoed and reverberated as if she had shouted into an empty cave. As it started to rain, Faith ran across the beach, frantically looking for Hook, calling his name. The beach seemed to grow with every step she took, no matter how far she ran, there always seemed to be another mile to go. She had almost given up when she saw it, her run slowed to a jog then to a walk and as she approached it, it turned to a stagger at the edge of the sea laid Captain Hook's best, scarlet coat. Faith picked it up and lovingly held it to her face and began to cry.

"Oh James" she muttered as her tears splattered the velvet of the coat.

Dreams are strange things time is even more unpredictable in ones dreams than it is in Neverland. You may feel as if you have been dreaming all night when in reality only a nanosecond has passed or a dream that seems quite small may take a whole night to dream, you just never know until you wake up. Faith awoke in a panic, the space beside her was empty, she sat bolt upright and looked around her, Hook was not in the cabin. Scared, Faith pulled her knees to her chest and watched the cabin door. She didn't know how much time had passed when Hook re-entered the room, a small bucket of water hanging off of his hook arm and a cloth in his hand. Faith made her way to him in 3 long strides

"Don't you ever leave me again" she half shouted, pounding at his chest

"You had a disturbed night" Hook said "Tossing and turning, you even called out for me a few times, it felt like you were burning up...I thought that last wound of your had become infected, it still might be, I didn't look, I didn't want to cause you any discomfort...went through 2 of these buckets trying to keep your temperature down"

"infection?" Faith said nervously

"We won't know until we look" Hook said

Faith nodded and stripped off the shirt she had worn to bed. Hook began unravelling the bandage around her middle and sighed when he saw it, the area around the wound was a deep crimson colour and it felt warm when he touched it, a yellowish pus began to seep from it

"It's infected" Hook sighed "I'll send Smee over to the mainland to get some medicine"

Hook left the cabin briefly and returned with Smee. Smee examined the infected wound briefly

"For now, keep it clean, maybe try a hot compress, try to control her temperature. It looks quite serious, but, if I get the medicine today, she'll be fine"

With that, Smee left the cabin and Hook went to get some hot water. Faith was not in pain from her infection, in fact, she hardly felt it at all, she ran a finger along the dark, red outline and felt the burning of her skin around it. Hook returned, followed by some of his crew, carrying a small basin of hot water and medical supplies. The crew laid out the medical supplies on his desk and the small basin was put on the floor. Hook dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

"This is going to feel very uncomfortable, probably quite painful too" Hook warned her as he soaked the cloth in the freshly boiled water. Faith nodded and closed her eyes and as Hook held the cloth to her wound, she flinched. Faith quickly relaxed again and put an arm over Hook's shoulder, Hook leant closer to her and touched her forehead with his, holding the cloth to her stomach until it had gone cold, when he withdrew it, it was stained yellow and red. Hook tossed the cloth aside carelessly and began to caress her face.

"You're going to be fine" He said "rest"

He lightly pushed on Faith's shoulder so that she would lay down. Faith grabbed his hand tightly. Hook sat himself next to her.

"Please, don't leave me again" She begged

Hook sighed and put his arms around her shoulders.

"I'm not going anywhere, Love" He assured her as she rested her head against him.


	12. The Voodoo Queen

**AN:I'm back! I was on holiday last week, I had hoped to get this out before I left, but I just couldn't write, this chapter was a proper fucker to get done, I just didn't want to move it along too quickly so yaahh! I hope you enjoy reading it more than I did writing it! Special thankyous go to Nothing Is what it seems, Daeris Mortalitas and Lady Tourniquet for their reviews (you guys made my day with them) and now on with the story!**

Infections are strange things, you could have one for months and months and not even know, then one day you'll wake up all red and swollen and perhaps leaking pus from a point on your body. Faith ran her fingers around the edges of her infected wound, feeling the heat against her fingers, Hook looked at her  
"Stop touching it" He said sternly, a thought played across his mind,Why wasn't she feeling any pain? She should have been in agony touching it like that. Hook swatted her hand away from the area and began to pace the room, impatiently waiting for Smee to return with the medicine. Hook sat himself down at his harpsichord and began to play a slow waltz.

"I composed this myself, you know" He said, proudly as he continued to play, Faith moved from the bed to walk closer to him, she watched entranced as his hand and hook worked in unison to produce the melancholy tune. Hook finished the song and spun around on the bench.

"You should be resting" he said to Faith

"I managed up until now without spending all the time sitting in bed!" Faith protested  
Hook said nothing, he just looked at her, stood up then swiftly scooped her up inti his arms, he walked over to the bed then dropped her onto it.

"You will rest" He said.

Faith groaned, defeated. She sat with her legs crossed, absent mindedly following Hook's movements with her gaze. He had just sat down at his desk when there was a sharp knock on the cabin's door.

"IN!" Hook barked as he examined a piece of paper.

First Smee stepped into the cabin, and then came Grace. She smiled pleasantly as she made her way over to the desk  
"Hello, James" She said

A look of menace came over Hook's face as he slowly made his way towards Smee

"I told you to fetch medicine, Smee!" He growled "The girl needs science and logic, not some voodoo magic!"

Grace laughed, she had a dark laugh, that wouldn't fail to make one feel uneasy. She made her way over to Faith and began examining the infected wound, running her fingers around the edge, tutting.

"You should have spotted an infection like this far sooner, James. Or have you forgotten what it is like to be so close to death?"

Hook felt a sharp pain run through his stump as Grace finished her sentence, it caught him off guard and made him flinch.

"It is lucky Smee found me when he did, had she been left much longer she would have died, luckily I can cure her of this ailment. James, she'll need holding down"

Hook sighed and went to Faith's side, he laid his arm across her shoulders, pinning her against the bed. Grace reached into a pouch hanging at her waist and withdrew a small glass vial, filled with a clear liquid, Grace unscrewed the lid carefully and stood over Faith. 3 drops of the liquid in the wound was all it took. Faith felt as if her body was being engulfed in fire, she screamed and her back arched. The pain was as close to unbearable as it could be, and suddenly, the burning stopped. Grace nodded at Hook, signalling that he could remove his arm. Faith looked down at the wound and saw pieces of new flesh joining together and growing over it.

A grave look played across Grace's face

"There are things that we must discuss, James" She said

Hook nodded, and threw Faith a shirt to put on

"You should sleep darling" Grace said to her "It will help the magic do it's work"

Faith nodded and laid herself down, facing the wall, but she did not sleep, she wanted to hear what Grace had to say. It was Hook that spoke first.

"Why did Pan come aboard my ship? How did he know of Faith"

Grace laughed her dark laugh

"Because I told him, James. He came to me and I told him. Now he is after her life, Peter believes that she was brought here as your replacement"

Hook gulped "And is she?"

Grace gave another dark laugh

"James, you are going to face a battle, there will be losses on each side, but, you will be in control of the losses."

Hook looked away, and towards Faith and Grace spoke again

"But, of course, you already know, don't you"

Grace then stood up and excused herself from the cabin, leaving Hook deep in thought. Ah, envy not Hook. All of his suspicions, that he had wished were incorrect had just been proved to be true. Hook had a tough decision to make, one that he did not feel ready to make. Captain Hook had never really been a religious man, he believed in being in control of ones own destiny, but still, he prayed, asking for more time before the bloodshed. He knew it would not be long before Pan descended upon his ship with an army of lost boys. A pain rose within Hook's chest, he felt as if his ribs were tightening around his lungs. He made his way over to Faith, he knew her well enough to tell she was awake. He laid himself down next to her and wrapped his body around hers. Faith held onto his left hand and lifted it to her face, gently pressing his fingertips to her lips.

Time could have stopped completely at that moment, Faith let herself go completely, leaning into Hook, tilting her head, so that it was resting against his neck. The pain within Hook's chest grew. He sat up suddenly, a thought having just crossed his mind. What he wanted, what he needed was rum.

Alcohol can have many effects on a person, of course it varies between people and the amount consumed, if one drinks enough, they may even find that they stop feeling any emotion at all. That was where Hook wanted to be, he did not want to feel anything. Hook went to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of rum, swiftly removing the cork with his hook. The glass felt cool against his lips and the dark brown liquid sent a warming sensation down his throat, it pleased him as his throat warmed. Slowly, the bottle sent him away to a happy place. Hook let the rum take him away, Faith knew better than to try to stop him. Stuck for anything else to do, she tried to sleep. She curled herself up against the wall and shut her eyes tight, hoping that sleep would take her. Hook continued to drink, finishing the bottle and then starting on another. Hook never got ill from drinking too much, but his hangovers were always fierce, at that moment he didn't care about what his hangover would be like. Hook held the liquid in his mouth, letting it dance over his taste buds for a few seconds before swallowing, he had chosen a very nice rum indeed. He leant back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, he closed his eyes tightly then opened them again, trying to stop his head spinning. Hook stood up, finding it hard to balance, he steadied himself by holding onto the edge of his desk, he stumbled towards the sofa and bookshelves. Hook threw himself onto the sofa with a loud thud. He laid back with a sigh, all the fear and stress he had felt earlier had vanished, even if it was just temporaily.


	13. Hell

**AN:Oh My! Another long absence! I really need to sort myself out with writing this! I've been having an insane amount of writers block recently, so that doens't help much, hopefully I'll snap out of it soon! It's just a short chapter, and I wrote some of it whilst drunk on Absinthe (that stuff is ace for getting the creative juices flowing) anyhoo**, **big thankyous to daerismortalitas, darkangekx190 and nothing is what it seems for their lovely reviews! here's the next chapter, enjoyy!**

If a drunk Captain is hard to deal with, a hungover one is impossible. Hook had drunk himself into oblivion and he was now paying the price, he leant over the side of the ship through the early hours, retching and throwing up. Having been kept up all night, Faith slept through Hook's torment until his return to the cabin.. He stormed through the door and slammed it shut. The Sound reverberated around the room and inside his head, pounding at his brain. Hook groaned loudly and threw himself, face down, onto the bed next to Faith. This did not wake her, when Hook tossed the covers onto the floor, Faith remained asleep. Hook could not make himself comfortable, his limbs flailed violently as he turned over, eventually kicking Faith hard in the shins. With a cry of pain, Faith sat bolt upright and glared at Hook. Hook raised a tired eyebrow at her and slid one of his legs beneath her own, it was a warm morning, Faith thought it was uncomfortably warm, the sort of morning you definitely do not want to be hungover on. Faith shifted herself so that she was not resting over Hook's leg. A thin ray of sunlight forced it's way through the closed curtains and Hook's chest, damp with sweat, glistened in it.

Hook's hangover was a fierce one, every sound hurt and had the same effect as if someone had ran their nails across a chalk board. The Ship had been moved to the other side of the island, further away from Peter Pan's hideout. The sea was uneasy in this place, Hook groaned as the ship rocked, clutching his forehead with his one hand.

Hangovers very rarely fail at distracting one from important details and things that ought not to be ignored. Hook had been so preoccupied with the pounding in his head that he had ignored how warm it was that morning, the sun shone brighter than usual, this meant that Peter Pan was happy and if Peter Pan was happy it meant bad things for Hook. Neverland had never before seen such a bright morning, Peter Pan had never been so happy.

Having found himself some new lost boys, strong boys, Peter Pan was confident that he would win the coming war. The new boys were a horrific lot, cruel by nature with volatile temperaments, they had been found in the bad parts of town, living in gutters, they were disposable. He basked in the sunshine he had created, stretching out his distorted limbs as he rose to the top of the tree. He noticed that the Jolly roger had been moves and an unnatural smile came to his face, this meant that they were scared. The pirates were scared! Peter Pan laughed at this realisation and with his cackle the sun glowed brighter and hotter.

The sudden increase in heat disturbed Faith, she wiped the sweat from her brow and sat up, nudging Hook.

"What is it?" He asked, annoyed.

"Why is it so hot?" Faith asked

This was what alerted Hook to the situation, his brow furrowed

"Do you trust me?" Hook said eventually, in measured tones, Faith said nothing, confused.

"Do you trust me?" He repeated

"Yes, I trust you" Faith replied

"Good, soon, you'll need it" Hook said

"What does that mean?" Faith asked him

"When the time comes, you'll understand. You'll just have to trust me"

Hook sighed and sat up, he put his incomplete arm around Faith's shoulder. Faith shrugged it off, it was far to warm for all that.

The uncomfortably warm morning became an unbearably hot afternoon, Faith was desperate to cool off, She laid at Hook's side, trying not to move. Hook groaned uncomfortably and stood up, he looked over to Faith.

"This heat will kill us quicker then Pan ever could, I have an idea, come" He said as he left the cabin, Faith followed him obediently. The deck seemed empty, most of the crew had sought shelter from the sun below deck, Only Smee remained above deck, ever the hard worker, he always completed his duties before relaxing, Hook walked purposefully towards him.

"Smee we need towels" He said

Smee nodded and rushed to find some, it was definitely not a good day to annoy the captain! Hook simply could not abide when the weather was too hot, it made his mood more changeable than it usually was. Smee returned promptly, and Hook snatched the towels and threw them into a row boat. Hook called Faith over and indicated that she should get in the boat, Hook stepped in after her and began to lower the boat into the water.

"Where are we going?" Faith asked

"Not far" Hook assured her "just for a quick swim"

The row boat hit the water and Hook began to undress, Faith followed his lead. Hook undid some of the buckles from his leather harness and it fell from his shoulders and landed in the boat with a heavy thud.

Hook dived into the water, deep beneath the surface, before arcing back upwards and breaking through the waters surface once more. Faith slowly lowered herself into the water, trying to remember all she had learnt from her childhood swimming lessons, Hook laughed, watching her struggle against the waves and moved, effortlessly to her side. Hook put an arm around her so that the strong, Neverland tides would not take her. Faith leant into his chest, allowing the sea to cool her. Faith broke free of Hook's hold and submerged herself fully beneath the water, Hook followed her, or at least he tried to, for when he finally submerged himself into the water fully, Faith was nowhere to be seen. Hook surfaced once more and looked frantically for her, Hook had started to think that the girl had drowned when a pair of arms wrapped around his torso from behind him. Hook sighed

"I'd almost begun to think that the sea had taken you" He said

"You can't get rid of me so easily" Faith replied

Hook sighed once more

"I think it is time we get back on board the ship"

Faith held a towel tightly around her body as she edged back to Hook's cabin, when she heard the door shut behind her, Faith let the towel drop to the floor, Hook walked up to her and placed his hands on her hips, his hair was heavy from being soaked with water which dripped onto Faith's shoulders. Time seemed to pass slower than usual, it was almost as if the cool of evening would never come. When the sun finally set, Faith rushed to the deck of the ship and laid herself down on it, staring at the stars, enjoying how the cold, nights wind passed over her body. The heat of the day had exhausted Faith, so she fell asleep where she was, on the deck. Hook left her there until morning when the sun returned just as bright as before.

Anyone who had spent any amount of time in Neverland would have been unnerved by the sun's brightness, it glowed sinisterly in the sky and cast a harsh light onto everything. The port town seemed lifeless, it's residents too scared to leave their abodes, and in the few moments that it takes a sun to rise in Neverland, the island and the waters around it, glowed red. This red glow had a far more sinister look to it than the one that appeared in Hook's eyes when he was angry, in that moment, the island looked like hell.


	14. Cruel Words

**AN: JESUS CHRIST! I didn't mean to stay away so long! I've had a lot to do for the job centre recently, but that is no excuse for my ridiculous absense! The ending of this has been planned since the beginning, I swear, so this WILL get finished! a sidenote here, this is a shared family PC I use to write on, so writing sex and stuff isn't all that practical, so I might make some revisions once my other PC has been restored!**

**now onto the thankyous! Daeris Mortalitas and Nothing is what it seems! you guys are absolute stars, with all those reviews you've left! Also thanks to Narglesatemybaby who left a nice review! Aaaand thanks to EVERYONE that has read this and to all those that have faved! enjoyy!  
**

Sunshine is meant to bring happiness, but for Faith, the bright mornings only brought fear. The ship was quiet during the day, the crew stayed below deck, only coming up if Hook decided he needed something, Their daily routine stayed the same, Hook and Faith stayed in his cabin until the sun had passed it's highest point and then they would leave the cabin, take a boat down to the sea and swim to cool down. The heat was like torture to them, our protagonists seemed to be in a dire situation indeed, but please, allow me to draw your attention away from them for now, as we take a look into Peter Pan's hideout.

The hideout was not a happy place, the lost boys, Peter Pan wanted only the strongest boys, the boys fought each other to weed out the weak ones, their bodies left around the hideout, rotting in the sun, Peter Pan watched the destruction, allowing the euphoria to take over, he was going to win and his Neverland would be exactly as it ought to be once more.

One boy stood out above the rest, he had always been more brutal than any other boy, the soul survivor of the night when the boys had found and lead an attack on 'the ghost' His name was Rooster and his brutality could match that of Peter Pan's. Rooster would growl and bare his teeth at the other lost boys if they ever dared to challenge him.

When he was younger, Rooster had been a good child, many thought he was strange, but he never caused trouble, he just sat in his room all day, reading books. Rooster never wanted to grow up, but, it was an inevitability after all, all children grow up, except one. Rooster wanted to be that one, the one who would never grow old. Of course he hadn't always been called Rooster, before he came to Neverland he had been called William Jackson, of course, he no longer remembered that. Rooster no longer remembered anything of his life before Neverland. Perhaps it was a good thing that he had forgotten, perhaps if he remembered he would have regretted what he had done and tried to leave, but it was now far too late for leaving.

We often have moments in life where we look back and wish we had done something differently or had knew something that we now know, these wishes get us nowhere, these wishes change nothing, after all, how can we be so sure that if we did go back we would not make the same mistakes? Rooster could not remember, thus, he had no chance to wish to have done something differently. It was good, for him, to have forgotten all he had, his fate had been sealed long before he had forgotten.

For someone on the outside, looking in, it would have seemed that Faith, too, had forgotten, the truth was, she remembered it all, but she never missed her life before Neverland, not for a second. She didn't miss it when she had to wash in a large metal basin, nor when she had to use a chamber pot. For the first time in as long as she could remember, Faith felt like she belonged somewhere, everything beforehand no longer seemed to matter. Faith often thought about her life before Neverland, in the heat, all she could do was think.

"You're thinking about home again, aren't you?" Hook said upon seeing the confused look upon her face, Faith did not answer him, she never talked about 'home' as far as she was concerned, Neverland and The Jolly Roger was her home. Hook didn't need an answer, he almost always knew what she was thinking.

A horrid cackle boomed throughout the skies, jolting Faith out of her thoughts, she knew it was Peter Pan. Hook's face grew dark

"Soon" he muttered "He's almost ready"

"When he comes, what are we going to do?" Faith asked

"I would say run, but, I don't think Neverland will let us leave, we'll have to fight"

"What is he?" Faith asked "Why are you so afraid of him?"

"I think, the best way to describe him would be to call him a zombie, but even that's not quite right. He did die, and he did come back, that was when things in Neverland changed, when you die, you're meant to stay dead, Pan coming back was unnatural and created the unnatural magic that stops ageing here"

Nothing more was said on the matter, it was all that Hook really knew about it, Grace had told him when she first realised what had happened, it was the only time that he had ever seen Grace afraid.

Suddenly there was complete silence, the sea was completely still, there were no winds, nothing moved, Hook peered through a window.

"Soon" He muttered once more "So soon"

Faith stood by his side

"Can't we at least try to escape?" she asked

"It could never work" Hook replied

Of course he was right, he knew Neverland far better than Faith did, Neverland would not let them leave. They had no choice but to stay and fight. Hook already knew what he had to do, the thought pained him more than any other, he was not ready, Faith was not ready. She was barely even an adult, yet she was about to be given more power than she'd ever dreamt of having, perhaps there was a way to prepare her for it.

"Oh, Hook, what a fool you are" He thought to himself.

How had he let things get so far? He was sure there was no turning back or running away now, he was more than sure. Had he had just left Faith when they had first met, he would not be in such a predicament now. He closed his eyes a thought for a moment, imagining if they could escape.

"Would we find another island, and sail another ocean?" He asked

"We'd be free to go anywhere we wished" Faith replied

"I'd like to see England once more" he said, nostalgia filling his mind. Hook thought of his childhood, his school. Eton, he had been proud enough to have it's crest tattooed on his left bicep. "I suppose a lot has changed since I was a boy"

"So much has changed" Faith said

"We'd make a new life for ourselves"

"have a house by the sea" Faith added

She knew the perfect house for them, a huge, white house, with a balcony that overlooked the sea, she had often dreamt of living there when she was a child. When she had had a bad day, affected by the cruel words of her peers she'd often imagine herself living in that house, standing on the balcony, she imagined so hard that she would smell the sea air and feel it against her skin, but only for a moment, the feeling lasted only a moment, but that moment was enough to soothe her.

"I think I'd like that" Hook said eventually

He'd never before thought about settling down in his life, it seemed funny that the first time it ever appealed to him was in an impossible situation.

"Do you think we'd get married" Faith asked

Hook's face darkened once more "No" he replied "It's impossible"

"Why?" Faith asked, confused.

"Because when you marry someone, you should probably love them" Hook spat the words out, almost angrily.

Faith's face fell, and, her eyes became dull.

"You are a cruel man, James Hook" she shouted, feeling the tears build up in her eyes.

"I am a pirate" Hook snarled back, the red glowing within his eyes

The ship became cold, the bright light became dark and Hook knew that the darkness within him was stronger than the euphoria of Peter Pan. The cold was just as unbearable as the hot, Faith grabbed Hook's favourite red coat and put it on, she took one last angry look at him before storming from his cabin. She stood on the ships deck and looked at the sea, it was obviously cold as ice, yet it was still silent and unmoving, the only way to describe it would be to call it dead. The island, too, was completely still, it was as if Neverland had already given up before the battle had started.


	15. Sacrifices

**AN: first of all, this is NOT the last chapter, even though it could be, but it isn't! secondly BIIIG thankyous to Daeris Mortalitas and Nothing is what it seems for all the reviews and also to everyone that has followed the story, enjoyyyy!**

As Faith looked at the sea, time around her seemed to change, she wasn't quite sure if it had sped up or slowed down. Faith felt as if she was the only thing not effected by this strange shift in time. She was utterly convinced that time had changed, if only it were so simple! All the strangeness that she felt was in her head. She wanted to scream, but no sound came from her lips. The Captain's last cruel words had not gone unheard by the crew. The crew had made their way to the deck, expecting to see their captain and to be subjected to his anger, instead they saw Faith, looking cold and weak, she couldn't do them any harm. Captain Hook had locked himself away in his cabin, Faith knew this because she had heard the lock click, Faith no longer had a place in Neverland.

The pirates stood, unsure of what to do, there was something unnatural about the whole scene, there had been something wrong with Neverland for a while, and what they saw made the whole situation seem worse, danger was coming and it was coming soon. A few of the pirates grabbed their swords nervously as if expecting a fight. The feeling of unease spread throughout the deck, yet everyone still stood there, motionless, as if expecting something.

A wind passed through the tree tops of Neverland, making it's way to the ship. It was the type of wind that would send a chill down ones spine, then suddenly the skies opened and rain poured onto the deck. I'd like to be able to say that this was the end of the strangeness and unease, of course it was not. The pirates retreated back below deck, not wanting to get wet in the rain. Faith remained where she was.

"Are you not going back to the Cap'n?" Smee asked her softly.

Faith shook her head

"You'll get soaked through if you stay here" Smee warned her before heading below deck with the rest of the crew.

As we draw close to the thrilling climax of this story, let us take some time out to observes Hook in his cabin, he sat at his desk, his eyes were tainted with the red that appeared when he was angry. Hook rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand, they were stinging slightly, Hook ignored it and turned his head towards the window, watching the rain. He listened as it banged against the ship, expecting thunder to come soon. The ship began to rock violently in the storm. Hook did not like what he was feeling, the stillness had made him feel uneasy, this storm made him feel more scared than he had ever felt in his life. Hook began to pace the cabin, feeling restless. A part of him just wanted it all to be over, Pan would come to the ship, leading an army of lost boys and he would fight and he would die. Hook thought it strange that all of his previous battles had not ended him, the giant crocodile had not ended him, yet a zombie, something that should never have existed would.

"Why haven't you come here yet?" Hook muttered to himself, darkly.

He wondered, briefly, whether Faith was still outside on the deck or if she had found shelter from the rain.

Faith had not found shelter, she just stood in the rain, waiting. The clothes she was wearing had become heavy, Faith turned around to look the other way, perhaps pan would attack from that side, she watched the sea, it was dark, almost black, the waves were angry and bashed against the ship, Faith stumbled slightly, but regained her balance quickly. Had it not been for the storm Faith would have heard Pan long before he landed in front of her. Peter Pan crouched in front of Faith, his dark eyes glistened sinisterly and his face distorted in a horrid way, Faith thought it looked like he was trying to smile. Peter Pan snapped his pointed teeth at her a few times, Faith did not know what to do. Slowly she edged towards Hook's cabin door, she pressed herself up against it, hoping it'd open, she had forgotten that Hook had locked himself inside.

Faith frantically began knocking at the door.

"Captain!" She called "Captain, please!"

Peter Pan watched her fear, it made his distorted smile widen. Faith continued her fearful knocking. Hook wished that she'd stop, but her knocking continued, when he could bare it no longer, Hook unlocked the door and threw it open. Faith forced herself into his chest.

"He's here" she sobbed.

Hook was conflicted within himself, part of him wanted to comfort the girl sobbing into his chest, he wanted to tell her that she was going to be okay, but, he also knew it would all be easier if she resented him, hated him even. Hook pushed Faith aside, banged his boot to the deck three times (as this was his signal for his crew to join him) then proceeded to walk up to Peter Pan.

"You're alive" Pan hissed

"That is so" Hook replied

"Then she must be your...Wendy! Pirates do not get Wendy's!"

The pirates made their way to the deck and Peter Pan smiled his horrid smile once more, it was then that the lost boys descended, lead by Rooster.

These lost boys were different to any that the pirates had ever seen before, they were all older than lost boys of the past had been, it made them seem a lot more dangerous, which of course, they were. Peter Pan had worked them hard so that they had lost everything that they once were, they had become brutal soldiers, their only goal was to kill.

The pirates drew their swords and the battle ensued, at first Peter Pan did nothing, he just watched, pleased with his boys. Pirates were dropping down dead as his boys slashed with their swords, gouged with their fingers and bit with their teeth. They fought with brutality and without rules. The pirates had learnt good form from their captain, their learnt methods were rather ineffective against the lost boys.

"Forget good form, men!" Hook bellowed, shocked at the words he had just said, not one person would have expected him to give up good form.

The pirates began to fight dirty, kicking and aiming below the belt. Peter did not like this, but by now only a few pirates were left standing, there was a loud shriek of pain, Faith looked in the direction it had come from and saw Rooster, slumped over in a corner, dead.

The remaining pirates (other than Hook) were cowering away from the lost boys, who had then decided to turn to Faith, she was sure that she was about to be killed, until Peter Pan shouted in his cruel voice.

"Stop! Don't harm her...yet! I want her to watch her captain be killed!"

Peter Pan grabbed a sword from one of the lost boys and pointed it at Hook.

"Dark and sinister man, prepare to meet thy doom" Peter Pan snarled

"Evil and unnatural youth! Have at thee!" Hook retaliated as he drew his sword.

Two of the stronger lost boys restrained Faith as Peter Pan's battle began. Faith watched, fearful for Hook. Yes, he had been cruel, but, she could not hate him. She wanted to hate him, but, she simply couldn't, it seemed to go against her very nature. As she watched Hook fight, something seemed wrong, he was missing easy hits and letting his blocks fail. Peter Pan laughed in delight seeing how easily his enemy was being defeated.

"You have lost your touch old man" He taunted, Hook showed no reaction and continued with his clumsy fighting, Faith despaired, she knew that he could fight better.

"For Gods sake! James!" She shouted one of the lost boys covered her mouth with his hand, it only took her that brief moment to distract Hook enough to start the chain of events that would end it all. Peter Pan sliced at Hook's left arm, causing him to drop his sword, it crashed to the deck with a sound that sent chills down Faith's spine. She watched the following events in slow motion, Peter Pan plunged his sword deep into Hook's stomach. Hook fell to the deck and Peter Pan backed off, he turned to the remainder of the lost boys.

"He won't come back from this injury, I want her to watch him die, I want her to see what will happen to her when we return.." He snarled.

Faith was released from the grip of the lost boys, she ran to Hook's side as Pan and his boys left. Smee approached Faith and Hook slowly and knelt close to them.

"Smee" Hook said "How long?"

Smee shook his head solemnly "Not long Cap'n an hour, maybe 2 at the most"

"Smee"

"Yes Cap'n?"

"I want to sit upright" Hook said

Smee nodded and propped the injured captain up against some barrels.

"Faith" Hook said "Do not cry, it was always going to end this way" He said softly

"Why?" Faith moaned

"You coming here disturbed the balance that ensured I could not die. You see, you made me far too happy, had Pan killed you, I would have gone on living"

Faith did not understand, after all, Hook had told her that he did not Love her already that day, why on earth would he had given his life for her?

"You are thinking about what I said earlier" Hook said, he was right, he could read her like a book "I thought, it would be easier if you hated me, I was wrong"

Faith buried her face into his neck as the tears poured freely from her eyes

"I'm not ready to lose you yet." She sobbed

"Please, do not cry, let me die a happy man, tell me you Love me" Hook said

Faith dried her eyes and cupped his face in her hands "James Hook, you wonderful man, I Love you, of course I Love you" She placed a soft kiss upon his lips and sat sadly next to him, resting her hand upon his,

They could have only been sitting there minutes when a thought hit her, Faith stood suddenly

"What are you doing?" Hook asked

"You're not going to die" Faith said, making her way to the gap where the plank should be "I figured, it'll take me less time to drown than it will for you to die sitting there"

Hook was in no state to stop her himself, he could barely find the breath to shout the order for his remaining crew to stop her.

"Thus perished Faith Hook" Faith bellowed as she bravely jumped into the icy waters below to save the life of the only person she had ever loved.

Hook did not want to believe that she was gone, but he knew she must have, for he started to feel more alive, his breath returned.

"Find her body" He bellowed the words with disgust. The remaining pirates jumped into the sea to retrieve the body, but when they got beneath the water there was no body to be found, each search only brought more disappointment to Hook. With each day brought another failed search and with each failed search Hook healed a little bit more until the day came when he walked to the deck.

"Take the ship back to port" he said "I want to talk with Grace"


	16. Telling stories

**AN:So this is it! why it all happened, Reckon I left it fairly open at the end, just because I love my timeline and my Hook so mcuh I'll be tempted to write more about this universe! There were tears writing this, I tell you! BIIIG thankyous to Daeris mortalitas and nothing is what it seems again for their reviews and also to everyone that has followed Faith and Hook to the end, you are all wonderful! Enjoyyy! xxxxxxxx**

Hook walked into the small port town purposefully, The torrential downpour of rain was now little more than a persistent drizzle. Hook had not healed completely, he wasn't even close, but, he had insisted on making the journey to Grace's shack alone. The shack was not far, Hook kept reminding himself of that to keep himself going, each step sent a surge of pain through his body, but he was determined to get there. He almost had the door off of it's hinges as he forced his way into Grace's shack.

"Bring her back!" He shouted "You bring her back, now!"

Grace shook her head as she stood

"James, sit down" she ordered, Hook sat himself on the bed and looked at Grace angrily.

"Bring. Her. Back" He said once more through gritted teeth "Make her alive"

"But, James, she is alive, and even if she wasn't, I wouldn't bring her back, you saw what happened to Peter when I brought him back..."

"It was you?"

"Who else could it have been, James!"

Hook had always known there was something different about Grace, and at that point in time, he was in no mood for her vagueness, he wanted answers.

"I want you to tell me everything!" He demanded "And don't act as if you don't know, because you do, you always know!"

Grace nodded and sat in a chair opposite him.

"You always thought I was the first adult on this island, this is not true, I was created here, I was the first person on this island. Neverland used to be my island, I could control it, I was lonely one day, and the next day, there were people, the redskins. Soon after more people came to this island. Of course this was when the island was allowed to grow."

Hook looked her intently, trying to decide if she was telling the truth or not.

"Peter and yourself arrived close together" Hook nodded

"He was such a small child, he knew no loneliness or sadness, but you, you were so alone, I brought you a crew, but this did not help. So I sent out some magic, somewhere far away to create someone who would have no choice but to Love you, someone that you would be able to Love, I never knew when they'd come."

Hook did not want to believe that Faith was nothing more than a spell created by this voodoo queen, the thought troubled him, Just as Faith was an open book to him, he was an open book to Grace.

"She was far more than a spell, James, I made it so that she would be human as you are, she would experience all that she needed to be able to understand you, she lived a life full of experiences before she came here, had she arrived during a different point in time, you would have been so happy. But Peter soon realised that he was growing up, he never wanted to grow up, he'd rather die than grow up, and I loved him so much, he was like a son. When he threw himself from that cliff, I was heartbroken enough to do the magic that I knew was unnatural and brought him back"

Hook knew most of the story from there.  
"And that unnatural magic spread throughout Neverland, giving him control of the island"

Grace nodded

"Peter needed an enemy that would live as long as he, so he chose you, a fearsome pirate king, he wanted you to feel alone, always, so when you found Faith, it undid part of his hold on Neverland. Neverland is growing up, I can feel it"

"What will happen to Pan?"Hook asked

"I'm sure when he realises that his island is growing, he'll leave here forever, but Neverland will always be scarred from his damage, I expect no one here will ever age again"

Hook sighed, having almost forgotten why he had come to see Grace in the first place.

"If Faith is alive, where is she?" He asked quietly

"That all depends on her, I expect that Neverland let her go home, or as close as she was willing to go, perhaps, one day, she will find herself back here"

"You know as well as I, she won't come back" Hook sighed

"Poor James" Grace said "You are injured and alone, you will stay here until you are healed"

"You know, I never told her I loved her, not really" Hook told grace, his words full of regret

"Then tell her, I'm sure she'll get it"

Grace started going through her cupboards, looking for potions that would help hook heal, it was a silver liquid that she first poured down his throat, Hook sighed and yawned, Grace had given him a sedative.

"I love you" he murmured as he closed his eyes and everything in his mind faded to a black dreamless sleep.

Hook did not know for sure what had happened to Faith, not even Faith knew what had happened, all she knew was that she was falling, she had been falling through the water for what seemed like forever. Surely she should have reached the sea bed by now, perhaps she had died and never realised and she would go on falling. Unknown to her, Faith had left the waters of Neverland and was on her way somewhere far away from the island. Faith closed her eyes, the water rushing past her vision was making her feel dizzy, she hadn't even realised how her vision was normal or how the water had not irritated her eyes as it usually does when one submerges their face in water. Faith just kept falling.

The change in pace came quite suddenly, first she was falling and then she had stopped, she felt sand against her face. Faith opened her eyes and looked up, she recognised the beach, she recognised the pier and the arcades in the distance, yet it all seemed different. Faith stood in the sand, it was cold so she pulled the red coat, his red coat, tight around her.

"I'm alive, James" She whispered, unaware of the young man running towards her, he was tall and slim with neatly cut, dark hair.

"Are you okay?" He asked "I thought I saw something wash ashore, but I didn't think it was a person until you stood up"

"I'm...I'm fine" Faith replied weakly

"You should dry off, my family owns a laundrette not far from here" He said

As they walked into the laundrette, everyone stared, an older lady gave a scornful look.

"Richard! You said you were only going to get some chips!" She shouted "Mrs. Taylor has been waiting her a half hour for you to get back! Her machine won't work"

"Mother, there was a girl in the sea, she washed up on the beach, I couldn't just leave her"

Faith was walking around the laundrette, in her lifetime she had only seen them on TV, she didn't even remember there being one in this town. The older lady turned to her.

"Dear" she said "Come with me, I'll take you upstairs, we'll get you dry, you don't want to be catching Hypothermia"

She lead Faith through the back rooms and up a flight of stairs to the flat above the shop, she gave Faith a large, tent like night dress.

"Put this on for now" she said kindly, Faith nodded and changed into the night dress as the Lady took her clothes back downstairs to the tumble dryers. Faith looked out of the window, she could see the sea from there. She circled the room and sat on an armchair, the flat looked dated, but retro and kitsch had been fashionable when she had first left. She grabbed a news paper from the coffee table, hoping to catch up on what she had missed, that was when she realised. She read the date, and then read it again for good measure.

"April 9th 1980"

Faith didn't want to believe what she had read, how could Neverland have just spit her out in the 80's? She did not know what to do.

Of course being sent back in time isn't the romanticised experience it is often made out to be, one has to forge paperwork, important paperwork in order to fit in, one also needs a good, believable back story. Faith hated to think of what would happen to her if anyone were to look her up and find nothing on her, not a birth certificate, no bank account, no home address, nothing. She had no idea of how she would cope, but when one is put in such a situation one has no choice other than to cope. It's amazing what you can do when you are forced to cope, it didn't take long for Faith to get the forged documents she needed, she found herself a job in a chip shop, it didn't pay well, but it paid enough for her to have a small flat. Faith even tried to find a boyfriend.

In search of someone to fill the part of her left empty since she had left Hook behind, she ran into many men, most of whom had little patience for her, it wasn't until she already had a child that she found someone who had patience enough to try. If you saw a picture of them you would have thought them to be a normal family. There was Faith and her daughter, Jae. Jae looked like her mother, except her hair was a few shades lighter and her eyes were a darker shade of grey. Then there was Liam and his son, Andrew, Andrew was older than Jae and he protected his step sister fiercely.

This story ends much as the whole thing started, with a mother telling her story to her daughter (but of course she changed some of it depending on her daughters wishes and needs) Faith sat at Jae's bed one evening after telling her the story yet again.

"Mummy" Jae said, sleepily "The children at school said you lied, that Captain Hook was bad and evil"

"Don't you listen to them, Jae" Faith assured her "Captain James Hook was the most amazing man I ever knew, he almost died trying to save me, he was most definitely good"

"Did you love him, mummy?"

"I loved him very much, darling"

"That's good, he loves you too" Jae said just as she closed her eyes to go into her pirate filled dream land.


End file.
